Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 6, Episode 15 - Newcastle to Lindisfarne - 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 completing my journey from the
East Midlands to England's North East.
Those fathers of the railway,
George and Robert Stephenson...
were Tynesiders - and many of their early
locomotives, including Rocket...
were built in their
Newcastle works.
Today I'll look at engineering - not so
much ON the Tyne, as OVER the Tyne...
and see the works that grace
the banks of the river now.
Following my Bradshaw's guide...
my journey this week has taken me
up the spine of England...
from the East Midlands, to the
rugged Pennine hills...
and across the
West Yorkshire Riding.
Heading up the coast, I visited the
conurbations neighbouring the North Sea.
I'll end my journey on the
island of Lindisfarne.
On today's leg, I explore
one of England's...
most beautiful and rugged
counties: Northumberland.
Beginning in Newcastle, I'll travel
up the coast to Alnmouth...
before taking a boat to the
Fame Islands.
My final stop will be Lindisfarne.
I discover the earliest surviving
Water-powered swing bridge.
We have no brakes - so it's
a guessing game!
I'm humbled by the courage of
a Victorian heroine.
All of this in the tumultuous
sea and wind and rain.
Absolutely.
And learn about the science
of lime-burning.
The temperatures were anything between twelve
and 1500 degrees centigrade at this level.
Bradshaw's says that Newcastle
has "rapidly increased"...
"in its dimensions since the commencement
of the present century."
"its situation on the navigable river"...
"and in the greatest coal district in
the world, are the chief causes".
I Want to see how Victorian engineers
applied their expertise...
hot only oh the banks of the Tyne,
but to the torrent itself.
Newcastle's history stretches back
almost 2,000 years...
during which time it's been controlled
by the Romans, Saxons, and Danes.
Its pride and prize is
the River Tyne.
In the 19th century its shipbuilding yards
were some of the busiest in the World.
- Hello.
- Sir - I'm a great, great fan.
- Thank you!
- Brilliant. Just keep it up.
Thank you.
In the mid-19th century, Newcastle
engineer Sir William Armstrong...
harnessed the power of water to develop the
first hydraulic crane and hydro-electric light.
A visionary inventor, scientist
and businessman...
he employed over 25,000 people at his
Elswick works on the north bank of the Tyne.
I'm meeting biographer and
historian Henrietta Heald...
who has written about
Armstrong's life.
My guidebook has an interesting description
of the Tyne in the mid-19th century.
"The coal being brought to the
waterside by railway"...
"is shot through staithes into
the holds of vessels"...
"or carried downriver in Barges,
and shovelled on board."
Apparently, then, the process of getting
coal onto the ships was cumbersome.
And, I believe, William Armstrong
did something to solve it?
He certainly did. He invented
the hydraulic crane...
which completely revolutionised the
loading and unloading of ships.
- Hydraulic implies water.
- Yes...
he was fascinated, all
the Way through his life...
with the use of Water as
a motive power.
And so once he found a Way of getting
water to the Newcastle quayside...
he then persuaded the city fathers to
let him experiment with a crane.
And he'd already worked out
the technology for it...
which was really concentrating the
water into a single column.
So, if he could get a good head
of Water coming through a pipe...
it would give him the means of then
using the weight of the water...
to lift very heavy weights.
Some of Armstrong's experiments were carried
out at his country home at Cragside.
He used the water from his lakes to drive
his household machinery hydraulically...
including the kitchen's
roasting spit.
How significant was the invention
of the hydraulic crane?
Well, it was revolutionary - and
not just in Britain...
but, actually, all over the world...
when you think of the processes
that it could make more efficient.
Armstrong's hydraulic crane
was then rapidly adopted...
by railways and ports
across the World.
The decks of London's
Tower Bridge...
were raised by a development of
his hydraulic technology.
But perhaps he's most famous
locally for the swing bridge...
which he invented and
subsidised.
He Wanted to have a shipyard
at his works at Elswick...
which are twelve miles
from the sea.
And he had to go beyond
Newcastle, upriver from Newcastle...
and the bridge that was here at the time
was an 18th-century stone-arched bridge...
and there's no Way you can
get a ship through that.
So he persuaded Newcastle to demolish that
bridge and replace it with a swing bridge...
which can just swing open,
and the ship can go either side.
The Elswick works began
production in 1847...
and business developed swiftly.
The works made everything
from hydraulic machinery...
ammunition for field guns
and Warships...
and, later, the ships
themselves.
When Armstrong died on 27th December
1900, at the age of 90...
The Times wrote in his obituary:
"With his death"...
"Newcastle loses her
greatest citizen."
I'd like to pay tribute to this visionary
Victorian engineer by visiting his swing bridge.
- Steve!
- Hello!
- Michael.
- Hello, there.
Very good to see you.
Wonderful array of old machinery.
Is the thing much as it was in
William Armstrong's time?
It certainly is.
Everythings original...
clown to the pipework, the engine,
the gearbox - the whole lot.
Wow. It was originally
steam-powered.
- I imagine it isn't today?
- Electric.
- Electric?
- Yeah, we moved from steam...
in 1956, I believe, to
the electric motor.
Which is obviously
more efficient.
I don't quite understand.
How do you convert...
the weight of Water into a bridge
that swings around a circle?
Well, we have a
Water accumulator...
which, funnily enough, you're
actually standing on the lid of.
Oh - right.
So we pump a large weight
to the top of a ram...
it's about 65 tons,
actually.
This weights held with a valve
at the bottom.
And as soon as you open that valve,
you have 65 tons...
of hydraulic Water pressure acting,
through the pipework, onto this engine.
- Any chance we can have a go with it?
- Certainly! Why not!
Ha!
Well, Steve - even though this is
one of the lower bridges on the Tyne...
you have a Wonderful view
from here, don't you?
- Commanding.
- Yes. It's quite nice.
You can see the
Tyne Bridge, etc.
It's pretty good!
And you make the bridge work
with these... really quite small levers?
Yes. These three levers here...
and that one there.
And that's all we have up here
to work this bridge.
I'll now lift the bridge ends up.
[HYDRAULIC SOUND]
And you can feel when
they're there...
just by the handle.
They're there.
Block's clear - if you'd like to
move that one to there...
then that'll pull our
blocks out.
And you can sense
What's happening...
as the system fills.
Gurgling sound...
Excellent!
Now... let's spin her round!
So... we'll check the coast
is clear - which it is...
and we shall go
for a swing!
[BRIDGE ALARM]
The bridge...
has begun to move - quite fast!
I'm quite surprised.
Yeah, We're okay.
We have no brakes - so
it's a guessing game!
[MICHAEL LAUGHS]
This is amazing, isn't it?
To be spun around in the
middle of the Tyne...
getting all these
tremendous views.
I'm just a little nervous about
how We're going to dock.
So am I.
The bridge appears to be slowing a bit,
so I would put a bit more gas on.
You're bringing it right back
to its resting position.
That's correct.
And you've got to get it
just spot-on.
This is quite a difficult bit of
parking, isn't it?
It can be.
And I believe we may
have missed.
[LAUGHTER]
I overshot six inches... eight inches.
So we'll have to go in reverse!
A very small amount.
And off.
And we'll be home today!
Steelwork matches.
Kerbstones match.
- And that's it.
- Beautiful job!
I have great admiration for the simplicity
and beauty of Victorian engineering.
And I believe that we should celebrate
this colossus of a man.
At the time of my
guidebook...
the signs of Newcastle's great industrial
and engineering heyday were everywhere.
The river would have been
crowded with ships...
carrying coal and supplies
up and down the Tyne.
A hundred and fifty years later, Newcastle's
famous bridges still span the river...
but the coal and shipbuilding
industries are gone.
In their place, Newcastle and Gateshead
have re-invented Tyneside...
with the help of striking
modern structures.
On the Gateshead quayside, in
What was formerly a flour mill...
is the Baltic Centre for
Contemporary Art.
Director Godfrey Worsdale knows
about its transformation.
Godfrey, a superb view over some of
the old buildings of Newcastle...
and some of the very strikingly new ones
of Gateshead and, of course...
the river - with, now, its
magnificent bridges.
What was the scene here at the time
of my Bradshaw's Guide?
This was the old Gateshead ironworks, Where
the materials were created to construct...
“Robert Stevenson's High Level Bridge -
which is the third along.
And, yes, really a place Where a lot of the
Industrial Revolution was pushed along.
I was rather staggered to discover this building
is actually not a great deal older than I am.
Correct. The Flour Mill was constructed
either side of the Second World War...
and is one of a number of flour mills that
Rank Hovis built around the British coast.
How did anyone have the idea of making
an ans centre out of this vast space?
Well, I think Gateshead Council need to be
recognised as one of the most visionary...
in terms of its culture-led
regeneration programme.
So we have The Angel of the North... we
have the Sage Gateshead Concert Hall.
The idea to exploit this massive
piece of architecture...
for a creative purpose was one that
Gateshead invested real belief in.
And I think that's
been repaid.
Today the Baltic is preparing to snow an international
installation by French artist Daniel Buren...
who's created a striking effect by mixing
films of different colour with daylight.
Do you have in your mind a sense of
continuing to trade here?
Absolutely. The Way in which the mill used to
bring grain from all over the world...
now we bring art,
we bring culture...
and we show the people of this part of the UK
and actually across the whole of the UK...
terrific examples of the best
art in the World.
Throughout the four floors
of the Flour Mill...
artworks playfully colour
the Baltic.
Its large spaces remind us of its history -
and make ideal galleries.
What strikes me - What might have
struck George Bradshaw, perhaps...
is that, on Tyneside, Where the artisan
has replaced the artist...
it is still on the industrial scale.
That's absolutely right. And I
think this building enables us...
as it enabled industry before...
to do things in an impressive
and ambitious Way.
Tyneside's ambition is evident in its
Millennium Bridge...
known affectionately as "The Blinking Eye".
I've headed back to Newcastle's Central Station
and the East Coast Main Line...
heading north to Alnmouth.
Thanks very much.
[TRAIN ANNOUNCEMENT]
"Ladies and gentlemen, in few moments"...
"we'll be arriving at Alnmouth.
Alnmouth, next stop."
Situated on the estuary of
the River Aln...
and close to the sea, it's been an
important settlement since Saxon times.
But it's also a peaceful setting
to enjoy the evening...
after a day of appreciating the
Tyne, old and new.
I'm up early - and I'm reminded that,
until the arrival of the railway...
travel by boat would have been the
fastest Way of getting around the country.
But in 1898, the North Sunderland
Railway Line was built...
to connect the East Coast Main Line with
Seahouses, a village further up the coast.
The four-mile line, used to transport the
fishermens' catch, closed in 1951.
Seahouses today retains the
character of a fishing village...
but most of its boats now ferry
tourists to the Fame Islands.
My travels have brought me close to
Bamburgh Castle, which, Bradshaw's tells me...
is "a Saxon fortress, recently restored -
sewing now as a beacon for seamen."
"Not far off are the Fame Islands"...
"where that courageous heroine Grace Darling
saved the crew of the steamer, Forfarshire."
"She and her father had charge of
the Longstone Light."
So I'm going to exchange my
train for a boat...
and go in search of that darling
of the Victorian press.
This is a fine crossing.
There's rain in the air...
a cloudy sky creates a slate-grey sea.
Bamburgh Castle looming over the strait...
and the Longstone Lighthouse looks
like a mighty lonely place.
- George, hello.
- Hello there!
What should I expect of the
Farne Islands? What are they like?
At this time of year it's very
busy with bird life.
There's over 120,000 pairs of birds nest
on these isles at this time of year.
- How extraordinary.
- Yes.
- Half of them being the puffin.
- I love puffins!
Yeah? Well, we should see a lot
this morning as we go along.
And there's also guillemots, razorbills...
kittiwakes, shags as well.
So we'll see lots of bird life.
This is a glorious sight.
A metropolis of wild birds sitting there
on their crags and rocks.
A "Hong Kong" of guillemots and razorbills
and cormorants and puffins.
The setting for an exceptional
colony of bird life...
these windswept islands have also
been a danger to shipping.
Rocks along the coast have claimed
hundreds of ships - and lives.
- Thank you, George!
- Okay, sir?
Wonderful trip, thank you!
I'm meeting Carolyn Aldridge - who knows
about the Islands' most famous Wreck...
and its connection to
Grace Darling.
After the most glorious boat trip
I've arrived here in this lonely spot...
the Longstone Lighthouse.
I'm just trying to imagine -
who was this "Grace Darling"?
She was a lighthouse-keeper's daughter
and she was living here at Longstone.
And in 1838, a terrible
storm blew up...
and a ship called the SS Forfarshire
was swept onto the rocks over there.
At that time, there was only Grace and
her mother and father in the lighthouse.
And so Grace and her father
took the coble - the boat - out...
to rescue the survivors from
big Harker Rock over there.
The Forfarshire was a paddle steamer
built in Dundee in 1834...
to carry passengers and cargo
between Hull and Dundee.
She weighed 450 tons, and was built
to sail under steam or canvas.
On the 7th September 1838, with
some sixty people aboard...
her engines failed.
Battling near-gale force
north-easterly Winds...
the ship hit the rocks
and broke in two.
A few survivors, nine people in total, managed
to scramble onto Great Harker Rock.
Another nine people managed
to scramble into a lifeboat...
and they were then picked up and
taken to North Shields.
And the Darling family rescued the
survivors who were on Great Harker.
The rescue was risky, but with lives at stake
and no-one but Grace to help him...
William set out to do his duty.
Normally it was a boat that would
be rowed by at least three men...
and William had to go out, with his
five-foot-two, 22-year-old daughter...
into this storm, to try
and carry out this rescue.
And so they approached the rock,
with people clinging onto it.
What did they do then?
William scrambled onto the rock
to assist the survivors...
whilst Grace held the
coble steady...
which meant she had to row it
back and forth by herself...
making sure she didn't hit the rock,
but equally that she Wasn't swept out...
literally leaving her father and
the survivors oh the rock.
And all of this in the tumultuous
sea and wind and rain.
Absolutely. William said it was one
of the worst moments of his life...
leaving his daughter, literally, in this boat
and not knowing What on earth...
was going to happen.
Grace managed to hold
the boat in position...
and she and her father
saved nine lives.
What was the reaction of Victorian society
when they heard about this rescue?
The story spread. It was
picked up by the national papers...
and Grace really became
a massive heroine...
because it was something that a young
Woman was not expected to be able to do.
The name probably
helped, as well.
I mean, "Grace Darling" - now Wonderful
a name for a heroine can you get?
And so it just became more
and more massive.
Within about seven Weeks of the rescue,
Grace was receiving invitations...
to appear in an exhibition - probably
at a theatre, or something.
Queen Victoria sent Grace £50
to reward her bravery...
and her name became known throughout
the world because of the daring rescue.
Did she live long after
the incident?
No - tragically, she didn't.
She carried out the rescue
when she was 22 years old...
and only lived another four years,
dying just before her 27th birthday.
Our heroine was a
victim of consumption.
Possibly, in a way, because
she died so young...
that also sort of kept her memory
as this amazing heroine.
It seems to me that, even if there
has been some mythology...
even if there has been some
exaggeration around her deed...
it was an act of
extraordinary bravery...
which, luckily, is remembered in
my Bradshaw's guide.
Today, the wreck of the Forfarshire
is still visited by divers.
As for the lighthouse - more than 170
years later, it's still saving lives.
Though with automation, it's
no longer manned.
Whilst the North Sea coastline holds
its dangers for shipping...
it's also one of Britain's
most beautiful.
In the sixth century, the kings of Northumbria
chose Bamburgh as their royal capital.
And, in 1894, Sir William Armstrong bought
Bamburgh Castle for £60,000...
to create a
convalescent home.
I Won't linger at Bamburgh
on this occasion.
I'll push on to the final stop
of my journey.
To travel to Lindisfarne, I must first
consult the tide tables.
Today, you can reach Holy Island
across a causeway...
but only at low tide.
In days of yore...
the monks used to cross the sands
when the Water allowed...
on What's known as the
Pilgrims' Way.
And today, the faithful occasionally retrace
their wet footprints in the sand.
It was at Lindisfarne that Saint Aidan chose
to build a monastery in 635AD.
From there he helped to spread Christianity
through northern England.
It was the seat of sixteen bishops until 875,
when it was overrun by Vikings.
The present ruins date from around
1150 - and are magnificent.
- I see you're visiting Holy Island.
- Indeed.
I wonder whether you've had a
feeling of holiness here today.
- Absolutely.
- It's very restful.
It's a tranquil environment, and it's lovely
to be here on a beautiful day.
The view from here is pretty
spectacular, isn't it?
Well, it's a beautiful area,
isn't it?
Although this morning, at nine o'clock, I
wouldn't have given you that view...
as it was throwing it down with rain.
[LAUGHTER]
At this stage of the day, it's
absolutely magnificent.
Why do you think the place
is spiritual?
From my point of view, because
I'm not religious...
it's just a sense of well-being.
Its tranquility, its isolation.
It's the beauty of the
countryside.
It's a fantastic building. It just has
so many Wonderful properties.
It's difficult to express it.
I think I agree with
my husband.
That's a good thing to do!
[LAUGHTER]
Indeed. He has to drive
me home!
Peace and tranquility now reign, but the
island has a busy industrial past.
I'm meeting Nick Lewis, from
the National Trust.
What did the Victorians make
of Lindisfarne?
Generally, they weren't too fond of it.
Some saw its potential as a place...
for soothing Waters, and
things like that.
Certainly, some people saw its potential
from an industrial point of view.
There are vast lime quarries on
the north shore of the island.
And they were exploited as
part of the lime industry...
which developed in the second
half of the 19th century.
Lindisfarne as an industrial site?
That is a new thought to me.
Yeah. I suppose everyone
associates it with the spiritual side...
and peace, I suppose. So industry is
kind of the opposite to that, but...
it absolutely would have been
an industrial site for...
most of the second half of
the 19th century.
Monks began lime-burning
on Lindisfarne...
using the product for building,
and to nourish the soil.
Very much later, the Victorians built
six open-topped lime kilns...
close to the Tudor castle
and the water.
Ships would unload coal and limestone
and depart with burned lime.
Well, it seems to me even the lime
kilns have an ecclesiastical feel...
with their pointed arches.
Yeah, they do bear resemblance to
a church or a cathedral...
and the architecture is so
spectacular, and so strong.
It's one of the reasons it's
survived so well.
And What was the process?
Basically, they were bringing vast quantities
of coal and limestone into these kilns...
via railways. In fact, one ran on this
very route we are taking.
And they'd be burning it, the limestone,
at hugely high temperatures...
to extract that finished
substance.
And, of course, it would then be taken away
on these same railway lines to the jetty...
where it could be exported
for profit.
Ah. As far as the Victorians were concerned,
nowhere was too holy for profit!
Well, I think this is a
first for me!
I don't think I have ever stood
in a lime kiln before.
What was this like when
it was in use?
I should think it would be
unpleasant for us to stand here.
Temperatures were anything between
twelve and 1500 degrees centigrade...
at this level. But that was
the required temperature...
to produce the lime that
they were after.
And so on the Holy Island
of Lindisfarne...
there was this burning
cauldron of hell!
The English adopted
Christianity early...
and some of their holiest shrines
were in the North East.
During the course of my travels with
the Quaker, George Bradshaw...
I've seen some of the country's finest
ecclesiastical buildings.
Right into the Victorian period...
entrepreneurs and reformers
were motivated by religion.
But the age of science brought its
doubts and challenges to orthodoxy.
In the railway age, it was more difficult
to maintain the pure faith...
that once motivated the Anglo-Saxon
monks here at Lindisfarne.
Next time, I'll visit the dockyard that
built Queen Victoria's royal yacht.
Discover a 19th-century rural railway
being given a new lease of life.
It is the most beautiful summer's day
and this lovely, restored track...
threads its Way along the
scenic valley of the Gwili River.
And I'm on my own private
train - What bliss!
And learn how to pose for
a photograph, Victorian-style.
Try not to smile, because in Victorian
times if you were smiling...
you seemed a bit of a buffoon.
[LAUGHTER]
I wish someone had told
me that long ago!
[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 completing my journey from the
East Midlands to England's North East.
Those fathers of the railway,
George and Robert Stephenson...
were Tynesiders - and many of their early
locomotives, including Rocket...
were built in their
Newcastle works.
Today I'll look at engineering - not so
much ON the Tyne, as OVER the Tyne...
and see the works that grace
the banks of the river now.
Following my Bradshaw's guide...
my journey this week has taken me
up the spine of England...
from the East Midlands, to the
rugged Pennine hills...
and across the
West Yorkshire Riding.
Heading up the coast, I visited the
conurbations neighbouring the North Sea.
I'll end my journey on the
island of Lindisfarne.
On today's leg, I explore
one of England's...
most beautiful and rugged
counties: Northumberland.
Beginning in Newcastle, I'll travel
up the coast to Alnmouth...
before taking a boat to the
Fame Islands.
My final stop will be Lindisfarne.
I discover the earliest surviving
Water-powered swing bridge.
We have no brakes - so it's
a guessing game!
I'm humbled by the courage of
a Victorian heroine.
All of this in the tumultuous
sea and wind and rain.
Absolutely.
And learn about the science
of lime-burning.
The temperatures were anything between twelve
and 1500 degrees centigrade at this level.
Bradshaw's says that Newcastle
has "rapidly increased"...
"in its dimensions since the commencement
of the present century."
"its situation on the navigable river"...
"and in the greatest coal district in
the world, are the chief causes".
I Want to see how Victorian engineers
applied their expertise...
hot only oh the banks of the Tyne,
but to the torrent itself.
Newcastle's history stretches back
almost 2,000 years...
during which time it's been controlled
by the Romans, Saxons, and Danes.
Its pride and prize is
the River Tyne.
In the 19th century its shipbuilding yards
were some of the busiest in the World.
- Hello.
- Sir - I'm a great, great fan.
- Thank you!
- Brilliant. Just keep it up.
Thank you.
In the mid-19th century, Newcastle
engineer Sir William Armstrong...
harnessed the power of water to develop the
first hydraulic crane and hydro-electric light.
A visionary inventor, scientist
and businessman...
he employed over 25,000 people at his
Elswick works on the north bank of the Tyne.
I'm meeting biographer and
historian Henrietta Heald...
who has written about
Armstrong's life.
My guidebook has an interesting description
of the Tyne in the mid-19th century.
"The coal being brought to the
waterside by railway"...
"is shot through staithes into
the holds of vessels"...
"or carried downriver in Barges,
and shovelled on board."
Apparently, then, the process of getting
coal onto the ships was cumbersome.
And, I believe, William Armstrong
did something to solve it?
He certainly did. He invented
the hydraulic crane...
which completely revolutionised the
loading and unloading of ships.
- Hydraulic implies water.
- Yes...
he was fascinated, all
the Way through his life...
with the use of Water as
a motive power.
And so once he found a Way of getting
water to the Newcastle quayside...
he then persuaded the city fathers to
let him experiment with a crane.
And he'd already worked out
the technology for it...
which was really concentrating the
water into a single column.
So, if he could get a good head
of Water coming through a pipe...
it would give him the means of then
using the weight of the water...
to lift very heavy weights.
Some of Armstrong's experiments were carried
out at his country home at Cragside.
He used the water from his lakes to drive
his household machinery hydraulically...
including the kitchen's
roasting spit.
How significant was the invention
of the hydraulic crane?
Well, it was revolutionary - and
not just in Britain...
but, actually, all over the world...
when you think of the processes
that it could make more efficient.
Armstrong's hydraulic crane
was then rapidly adopted...
by railways and ports
across the World.
The decks of London's
Tower Bridge...
were raised by a development of
his hydraulic technology.
But perhaps he's most famous
locally for the swing bridge...
which he invented and
subsidised.
He Wanted to have a shipyard
at his works at Elswick...
which are twelve miles
from the sea.
And he had to go beyond
Newcastle, upriver from Newcastle...
and the bridge that was here at the time
was an 18th-century stone-arched bridge...
and there's no Way you can
get a ship through that.
So he persuaded Newcastle to demolish that
bridge and replace it with a swing bridge...
which can just swing open,
and the ship can go either side.
The Elswick works began
production in 1847...
and business developed swiftly.
The works made everything
from hydraulic machinery...
ammunition for field guns
and Warships...
and, later, the ships
themselves.
When Armstrong died on 27th December
1900, at the age of 90...
The Times wrote in his obituary:
"With his death"...
"Newcastle loses her
greatest citizen."
I'd like to pay tribute to this visionary
Victorian engineer by visiting his swing bridge.
- Steve!
- Hello!
- Michael.
- Hello, there.
Very good to see you.
Wonderful array of old machinery.
Is the thing much as it was in
William Armstrong's time?
It certainly is.
Everythings original...
clown to the pipework, the engine,
the gearbox - the whole lot.
Wow. It was originally
steam-powered.
- I imagine it isn't today?
- Electric.
- Electric?
- Yeah, we moved from steam...
in 1956, I believe, to
the electric motor.
Which is obviously
more efficient.
I don't quite understand.
How do you convert...
the weight of Water into a bridge
that swings around a circle?
Well, we have a
Water accumulator...
which, funnily enough, you're
actually standing on the lid of.
Oh - right.
So we pump a large weight
to the top of a ram...
it's about 65 tons,
actually.
This weights held with a valve
at the bottom.
And as soon as you open that valve,
you have 65 tons...
of hydraulic Water pressure acting,
through the pipework, onto this engine.
- Any chance we can have a go with it?
- Certainly! Why not!
Ha!
Well, Steve - even though this is
one of the lower bridges on the Tyne...
you have a Wonderful view
from here, don't you?
- Commanding.
- Yes. It's quite nice.
You can see the
Tyne Bridge, etc.
It's pretty good!
And you make the bridge work
with these... really quite small levers?
Yes. These three levers here...
and that one there.
And that's all we have up here
to work this bridge.
I'll now lift the bridge ends up.
[HYDRAULIC SOUND]
And you can feel when
they're there...
just by the handle.
They're there.
Block's clear - if you'd like to
move that one to there...
then that'll pull our
blocks out.
And you can sense
What's happening...
as the system fills.
Gurgling sound...
Excellent!
Now... let's spin her round!
So... we'll check the coast
is clear - which it is...
and we shall go
for a swing!
[BRIDGE ALARM]
The bridge...
has begun to move - quite fast!
I'm quite surprised.
Yeah, We're okay.
We have no brakes - so
it's a guessing game!
[MICHAEL LAUGHS]
This is amazing, isn't it?
To be spun around in the
middle of the Tyne...
getting all these
tremendous views.
I'm just a little nervous about
how We're going to dock.
So am I.
The bridge appears to be slowing a bit,
so I would put a bit more gas on.
You're bringing it right back
to its resting position.
That's correct.
And you've got to get it
just spot-on.
This is quite a difficult bit of
parking, isn't it?
It can be.
And I believe we may
have missed.
[LAUGHTER]
I overshot six inches... eight inches.
So we'll have to go in reverse!
A very small amount.
And off.
And we'll be home today!
Steelwork matches.
Kerbstones match.
- And that's it.
- Beautiful job!
I have great admiration for the simplicity
and beauty of Victorian engineering.
And I believe that we should celebrate
this colossus of a man.
At the time of my
guidebook...
the signs of Newcastle's great industrial
and engineering heyday were everywhere.
The river would have been
crowded with ships...
carrying coal and supplies
up and down the Tyne.
A hundred and fifty years later, Newcastle's
famous bridges still span the river...
but the coal and shipbuilding
industries are gone.
In their place, Newcastle and Gateshead
have re-invented Tyneside...
with the help of striking
modern structures.
On the Gateshead quayside, in
What was formerly a flour mill...
is the Baltic Centre for
Contemporary Art.
Director Godfrey Worsdale knows
about its transformation.
Godfrey, a superb view over some of
the old buildings of Newcastle...
and some of the very strikingly new ones
of Gateshead and, of course...
the river - with, now, its
magnificent bridges.
What was the scene here at the time
of my Bradshaw's Guide?
This was the old Gateshead ironworks, Where
the materials were created to construct...
“Robert Stevenson's High Level Bridge -
which is the third along.
And, yes, really a place Where a lot of the
Industrial Revolution was pushed along.
I was rather staggered to discover this building
is actually not a great deal older than I am.
Correct. The Flour Mill was constructed
either side of the Second World War...
and is one of a number of flour mills that
Rank Hovis built around the British coast.
How did anyone have the idea of making
an ans centre out of this vast space?
Well, I think Gateshead Council need to be
recognised as one of the most visionary...
in terms of its culture-led
regeneration programme.
So we have The Angel of the North... we
have the Sage Gateshead Concert Hall.
The idea to exploit this massive
piece of architecture...
for a creative purpose was one that
Gateshead invested real belief in.
And I think that's
been repaid.
Today the Baltic is preparing to snow an international
installation by French artist Daniel Buren...
who's created a striking effect by mixing
films of different colour with daylight.
Do you have in your mind a sense of
continuing to trade here?
Absolutely. The Way in which the mill used to
bring grain from all over the world...
now we bring art,
we bring culture...
and we show the people of this part of the UK
and actually across the whole of the UK...
terrific examples of the best
art in the World.
Throughout the four floors
of the Flour Mill...
artworks playfully colour
the Baltic.
Its large spaces remind us of its history -
and make ideal galleries.
What strikes me - What might have
struck George Bradshaw, perhaps...
is that, on Tyneside, Where the artisan
has replaced the artist...
it is still on the industrial scale.
That's absolutely right. And I
think this building enables us...
as it enabled industry before...
to do things in an impressive
and ambitious Way.
Tyneside's ambition is evident in its
Millennium Bridge...
known affectionately as "The Blinking Eye".
I've headed back to Newcastle's Central Station
and the East Coast Main Line...
heading north to Alnmouth.
Thanks very much.
[TRAIN ANNOUNCEMENT]
"Ladies and gentlemen, in few moments"...
"we'll be arriving at Alnmouth.
Alnmouth, next stop."
Situated on the estuary of
the River Aln...
and close to the sea, it's been an
important settlement since Saxon times.
But it's also a peaceful setting
to enjoy the evening...
after a day of appreciating the
Tyne, old and new.
I'm up early - and I'm reminded that,
until the arrival of the railway...
travel by boat would have been the
fastest Way of getting around the country.
But in 1898, the North Sunderland
Railway Line was built...
to connect the East Coast Main Line with
Seahouses, a village further up the coast.
The four-mile line, used to transport the
fishermens' catch, closed in 1951.
Seahouses today retains the
character of a fishing village...
but most of its boats now ferry
tourists to the Fame Islands.
My travels have brought me close to
Bamburgh Castle, which, Bradshaw's tells me...
is "a Saxon fortress, recently restored -
sewing now as a beacon for seamen."
"Not far off are the Fame Islands"...
"where that courageous heroine Grace Darling
saved the crew of the steamer, Forfarshire."
"She and her father had charge of
the Longstone Light."
So I'm going to exchange my
train for a boat...
and go in search of that darling
of the Victorian press.
This is a fine crossing.
There's rain in the air...
a cloudy sky creates a slate-grey sea.
Bamburgh Castle looming over the strait...
and the Longstone Lighthouse looks
like a mighty lonely place.
- George, hello.
- Hello there!
What should I expect of the
Farne Islands? What are they like?
At this time of year it's very
busy with bird life.
There's over 120,000 pairs of birds nest
on these isles at this time of year.
- How extraordinary.
- Yes.
- Half of them being the puffin.
- I love puffins!
Yeah? Well, we should see a lot
this morning as we go along.
And there's also guillemots, razorbills...
kittiwakes, shags as well.
So we'll see lots of bird life.
This is a glorious sight.
A metropolis of wild birds sitting there
on their crags and rocks.
A "Hong Kong" of guillemots and razorbills
and cormorants and puffins.
The setting for an exceptional
colony of bird life...
these windswept islands have also
been a danger to shipping.
Rocks along the coast have claimed
hundreds of ships - and lives.
- Thank you, George!
- Okay, sir?
Wonderful trip, thank you!
I'm meeting Carolyn Aldridge - who knows
about the Islands' most famous Wreck...
and its connection to
Grace Darling.
After the most glorious boat trip
I've arrived here in this lonely spot...
the Longstone Lighthouse.
I'm just trying to imagine -
who was this "Grace Darling"?
She was a lighthouse-keeper's daughter
and she was living here at Longstone.
And in 1838, a terrible
storm blew up...
and a ship called the SS Forfarshire
was swept onto the rocks over there.
At that time, there was only Grace and
her mother and father in the lighthouse.
And so Grace and her father
took the coble - the boat - out...
to rescue the survivors from
big Harker Rock over there.
The Forfarshire was a paddle steamer
built in Dundee in 1834...
to carry passengers and cargo
between Hull and Dundee.
She weighed 450 tons, and was built
to sail under steam or canvas.
On the 7th September 1838, with
some sixty people aboard...
her engines failed.
Battling near-gale force
north-easterly Winds...
the ship hit the rocks
and broke in two.
A few survivors, nine people in total, managed
to scramble onto Great Harker Rock.
Another nine people managed
to scramble into a lifeboat...
and they were then picked up and
taken to North Shields.
And the Darling family rescued the
survivors who were on Great Harker.
The rescue was risky, but with lives at stake
and no-one but Grace to help him...
William set out to do his duty.
Normally it was a boat that would
be rowed by at least three men...
and William had to go out, with his
five-foot-two, 22-year-old daughter...
into this storm, to try
and carry out this rescue.
And so they approached the rock,
with people clinging onto it.
What did they do then?
William scrambled onto the rock
to assist the survivors...
whilst Grace held the
coble steady...
which meant she had to row it
back and forth by herself...
making sure she didn't hit the rock,
but equally that she Wasn't swept out...
literally leaving her father and
the survivors oh the rock.
And all of this in the tumultuous
sea and wind and rain.
Absolutely. William said it was one
of the worst moments of his life...
leaving his daughter, literally, in this boat
and not knowing What on earth...
was going to happen.
Grace managed to hold
the boat in position...
and she and her father
saved nine lives.
What was the reaction of Victorian society
when they heard about this rescue?
The story spread. It was
picked up by the national papers...
and Grace really became
a massive heroine...
because it was something that a young
Woman was not expected to be able to do.
The name probably
helped, as well.
I mean, "Grace Darling" - now Wonderful
a name for a heroine can you get?
And so it just became more
and more massive.
Within about seven Weeks of the rescue,
Grace was receiving invitations...
to appear in an exhibition - probably
at a theatre, or something.
Queen Victoria sent Grace £50
to reward her bravery...
and her name became known throughout
the world because of the daring rescue.
Did she live long after
the incident?
No - tragically, she didn't.
She carried out the rescue
when she was 22 years old...
and only lived another four years,
dying just before her 27th birthday.
Our heroine was a
victim of consumption.
Possibly, in a way, because
she died so young...
that also sort of kept her memory
as this amazing heroine.
It seems to me that, even if there
has been some mythology...
even if there has been some
exaggeration around her deed...
it was an act of
extraordinary bravery...
which, luckily, is remembered in
my Bradshaw's guide.
Today, the wreck of the Forfarshire
is still visited by divers.
As for the lighthouse - more than 170
years later, it's still saving lives.
Though with automation, it's
no longer manned.
Whilst the North Sea coastline holds
its dangers for shipping...
it's also one of Britain's
most beautiful.
In the sixth century, the kings of Northumbria
chose Bamburgh as their royal capital.
And, in 1894, Sir William Armstrong bought
Bamburgh Castle for £60,000...
to create a
convalescent home.
I Won't linger at Bamburgh
on this occasion.
I'll push on to the final stop
of my journey.
To travel to Lindisfarne, I must first
consult the tide tables.
Today, you can reach Holy Island
across a causeway...
but only at low tide.
In days of yore...
the monks used to cross the sands
when the Water allowed...
on What's known as the
Pilgrims' Way.
And today, the faithful occasionally retrace
their wet footprints in the sand.
It was at Lindisfarne that Saint Aidan chose
to build a monastery in 635AD.
From there he helped to spread Christianity
through northern England.
It was the seat of sixteen bishops until 875,
when it was overrun by Vikings.
The present ruins date from around
1150 - and are magnificent.
- I see you're visiting Holy Island.
- Indeed.
I wonder whether you've had a
feeling of holiness here today.
- Absolutely.
- It's very restful.
It's a tranquil environment, and it's lovely
to be here on a beautiful day.
The view from here is pretty
spectacular, isn't it?
Well, it's a beautiful area,
isn't it?
Although this morning, at nine o'clock, I
wouldn't have given you that view...
as it was throwing it down with rain.
[LAUGHTER]
At this stage of the day, it's
absolutely magnificent.
Why do you think the place
is spiritual?
From my point of view, because
I'm not religious...
it's just a sense of well-being.
Its tranquility, its isolation.
It's the beauty of the
countryside.
It's a fantastic building. It just has
so many Wonderful properties.
It's difficult to express it.
I think I agree with
my husband.
That's a good thing to do!
[LAUGHTER]
Indeed. He has to drive
me home!
Peace and tranquility now reign, but the
island has a busy industrial past.
I'm meeting Nick Lewis, from
the National Trust.
What did the Victorians make
of Lindisfarne?
Generally, they weren't too fond of it.
Some saw its potential as a place...
for soothing Waters, and
things like that.
Certainly, some people saw its potential
from an industrial point of view.
There are vast lime quarries on
the north shore of the island.
And they were exploited as
part of the lime industry...
which developed in the second
half of the 19th century.
Lindisfarne as an industrial site?
That is a new thought to me.
Yeah. I suppose everyone
associates it with the spiritual side...
and peace, I suppose. So industry is
kind of the opposite to that, but...
it absolutely would have been
an industrial site for...
most of the second half of
the 19th century.
Monks began lime-burning
on Lindisfarne...
using the product for building,
and to nourish the soil.
Very much later, the Victorians built
six open-topped lime kilns...
close to the Tudor castle
and the water.
Ships would unload coal and limestone
and depart with burned lime.
Well, it seems to me even the lime
kilns have an ecclesiastical feel...
with their pointed arches.
Yeah, they do bear resemblance to
a church or a cathedral...
and the architecture is so
spectacular, and so strong.
It's one of the reasons it's
survived so well.
And What was the process?
Basically, they were bringing vast quantities
of coal and limestone into these kilns...
via railways. In fact, one ran on this
very route we are taking.
And they'd be burning it, the limestone,
at hugely high temperatures...
to extract that finished
substance.
And, of course, it would then be taken away
on these same railway lines to the jetty...
where it could be exported
for profit.
Ah. As far as the Victorians were concerned,
nowhere was too holy for profit!
Well, I think this is a
first for me!
I don't think I have ever stood
in a lime kiln before.
What was this like when
it was in use?
I should think it would be
unpleasant for us to stand here.
Temperatures were anything between
twelve and 1500 degrees centigrade...
at this level. But that was
the required temperature...
to produce the lime that
they were after.
And so on the Holy Island
of Lindisfarne...
there was this burning
cauldron of hell!
The English adopted
Christianity early...
and some of their holiest shrines
were in the North East.
During the course of my travels with
the Quaker, George Bradshaw...
I've seen some of the country's finest
ecclesiastical buildings.
Right into the Victorian period...
entrepreneurs and reformers
were motivated by religion.
But the age of science brought its
doubts and challenges to orthodoxy.
In the railway age, it was more difficult
to maintain the pure faith...
that once motivated the Anglo-Saxon
monks here at Lindisfarne.
Next time, I'll visit the dockyard that
built Queen Victoria's royal yacht.
Discover a 19th-century rural railway
being given a new lease of life.
It is the most beautiful summer's day
and this lovely, restored track...
threads its Way along the
scenic valley of the Gwili River.
And I'm on my own private
train - What bliss!
And learn how to pose for
a photograph, Victorian-style.
Try not to smile, because in Victorian
times if you were smiling...
you seemed a bit of a buffoon.
[LAUGHTER]
I wish someone had told
me that long ago!
[END THEME]