Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 6, Episode 16 - Pembroke Dock to Swansea - 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've embarked on a new journey
that begins in Wales...
a territory once thought so troublesome that
English monarchs peppered it with castles.
Since 1301 they've taken care to name
their heir apparent Prince of Wales.
The Industrial Revolution transformed
the South, so that by Victorian times...
despite its remoteness from
the seat of power...
it was valued by the national economy,
and by the Royal Family.
My journey will take me across
Bradshaw's Britain, from west to east.
From the industrial powerhouse
of South Wales...
I'll see how the railways left no
corner of the land unchanged...
through the agricultural heartlands of
the Welsh Borders and the Cotswolds.
I'll finish by travelling between the
twin pillars of English academia...
of Oxford and Cambridge.
The first leg will cover
65 miles...
from the Welsh west coast, via
Carmarthenshire, to Swansea.
I'll visit the dockyard that built
Queen Victoria's royal yacht.
When she was launched, she was the biggest
yacht of any kind in the World.
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're smiling...
you're seen as a bit of a buffoon!
[LAUGHTER]
I wish someone had told
me that long ago!
My first stop will be Pembroke Dock -
which Bradshaw's tells me is...
"the seat of a royal dockyard at the
head of that magnificent inlet"...
"called Milford Haven."
The town takes its name from
the Welsh "penfro"...
meaning
"head of a peninsula".
The dockyard is celebrating
its bicentenary.
It was built in 1814, when we were still
at war with Napoleon Bonaparte.
By Victorian times it was still sewing
country - and, especially, Queen.
Before the arrival of the railway in 1864, this
was an isolated corner of the country.
But the deep waters of the Haven made
it an ideal site for a shipyard.
And, as Britain battled Napoleonic
France in the early 19th century...
the Admiralty built naval
vessels here.
I'm surveying the town's history from a
19th-century gun tower with Martin Cavaney.
The dockyard only opens as the Napoleonic
wars are coming to an end.
Was that then a problem for the
dockyard at Pembroke?
No - far from it. Pembroke Dock
became "Boomtown, Wales".
People came from all over the country
here to work at the dockyard.
It employed 3,000 men at its height
and, of course...
you had to service them with
shops, pubs, houses.
So this place suddenly expanded out
from a greenfield site into a town.
The gun tower dates from the
town's Victorian heyday...
by which time Britannia ruled the waves
with the biggest and best navy in the World.
Victory over Napoleon at
Waterloo, in 1815...
had marked the start of a new era of peace -
but the Admiralty remained watchful.
1848/49, the year of revolution in
Europe - especially in France...
it was realised that the British dockyards
were wide open to attack from the sea.
So, in 1849, Lord Palmerston ordered
a defence-building programme...
and a chain of fortifications was
built to protect the dockyard...
stretching the twelve miles down to the
mouth of the Haven Waterway.
Were these guns
ever fired?
Never fired in anger.
Its defences were three of these
cannons - on the roof.
And then on the ground floor there
were three 12lb howitzers...
which could be moved around the
building to fire from any of the windows.
- Better safe than sorry, I suppose!
- Yes.
From sailing boats to
industrial-age steamships...
263 naval vessels were built here over
the lifetime of the royal dockyard.
But not all of them were
designed with war in mind.
The Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre
commemorates the yachts...
that added prestige to Queen
Victoria's travels.
Ted Goddard is
my guide.
- Ted.
- Welcome, Michael.
Great to be here.
Ted, that is the most
handsome vessel!
Which one is this?
This is the third Victoria & Albert -
there were five royal yachts...
built here at
Pembroke dock.
That's the first V&A over
there, by the wall...?
Yeah.
Much smaller. So they got bigger
and bigger, did they?
Yeah, the first one was about
1,200 tons.
The second V&A was twice
that - 2,400..
And this one was
5,500 tons.
She was a mighty ship.
When she was launched, she was
the biggest yacht of any kind in the World.
That was in 1899...
and that record held right until
the 1930s.
I remember from my days in the
Ministry of Defence, that...
the yachts were traditionally
crewed by the Royal Navy.
Presumably that was true of
this one?
Yes. There was a crew of
just over 360...
who were accommodated in this
section of the ship...
just forward of
the bow.
The officers were next, then - their Ward
room was under the bridge.
And then the Royal Apartments -
here, and along here...
would occupy the rest
of the ship...
and the crew were crammed in
there like sardines.
Launched in 1899, the third
Victoria & Albeit...
wasn't commissioned for service until 1901,
the year of the Queen's death.
But the yacht lived on to serve
her descendants.
[COMMNENTATOR]
"And a salute of twenty-one guns"...
"booms out over the Solent, and echoes
back, seconds later, to its King."
In 1939, King George VI
- the Queen's father...
and the Queen Mother, the two princesses
Elizabeth and Margaret...
were taken on a cruise to
the West Country.
And the V&A anchored
off Dartmouth.
And that evening, a young Philip
Mountbatten came onboard to dine.
Of course, now the Duke of Edinburgh,
the Queen's husband...
and it's believed to be the
first recorded time...
that Philip Mountbatten and
Princess Elizabeth met.
So the yacht has a romantic - as
well as a royal - connection.
Indeed.
Indeed it has.
The Royal Dockyard closed in 1926,
and shipbuilding declined.
Today just one firm remains,
and before I leave...
I'm meeting its Operations
Director, Kevin Lewis.
- Kevin.
- Ah, good morning.
A ZOO-year-old dockyard...
that used to produce royal yachts
and frigates, and so on.
Good to see something still
happening here.
Yeah, it is good. It's the
history of the place...
and we're, I guess, trying to
make sure that it continues.
I've known the place since I was
around fourteen or fifteen...
when I first came clown here
with my father.
And I stood on the end of the dock
with my father - looking down into the dock...
watching the welders.
And I said to him...
"I think that's What I want to do when I
grow up. That's What I want to do".
[MICHAEL CHUCKLES]
What are you having to
do to this boat?
This boat's just come in -
we slipped it yesterday.
It's coming in for a
refit and refurb.
We're going to put new accommodation
into it - modify the superstructure...
- amongst other things.
- Big job?
Quite a big job, yes.
I'm glad to have glimpsed a reminder
of Pembroke Book's shipbuilding heritage.
It's now time to turn my back on the sea
and join the West Wales railway.
This branch was extended to serve
the dockyard in the 1860s.
I'm following it inland, Where local
people relied on farming...
in Bradshaw's day.
I'll leave this train at Narberth.
Bradshaw's tells me...
"It has no particular object of attraction,
being a small, neat town."
A picture of provincial tranquility,
you might think?
But you'd be wrong.
Shortly after Victoria came
to the throne...
its placidity was shattered by a severe
outbreak of public disorder.
The mid-'19th century was a difficult time for
Britain's agricultural communities...
due to population growth, poor
harvests, and economic depression.
Here in south west Wales, growing discontent
found extraordinary expression...
as masked men donned Women's clothing to
stage violent protests across the countryside.
Historian Rhian Jones is filling
me in on the story.
So you've brought me to this imposing
stone building. Why?
Well, this is
Narberth Workhouse.
It was built in 1820 - and in 1843 it
was a target of Rebecca rioters.
The Rebecca rioters were mainly
tenant farmers from this area...
who had several grievances
in the 1840s..
And they took out their grievances
on various targets...
including workhouses
and tollgates.
And these workhouses; now, if I remember,
there'd been a new Poor Law in 1834.
Yes, that's right.
So, conditions inside were wretched,
weren't they? Wretched.
Yes. Conditions in workhouses were
meant to be deliberately harsher than...
the worst conditions that you
might suffer outside...
deliberately to deter people from
accessing that support.
- "Choosing idleness".
- Exactly. Exactly.
As well as demanding better
conditions in workhouses...
the Rebecca rioters destroyed
the tollgates...
used to collect fees from road users,
which had grown in number...
since the early
19th century.
Dressed as women, the culprits
were hard to identify.
And, surely, there was a reason for
choosing the name "Rebecca"?
There's two conflicting theories about
this. The first is that...
the leader of the first riots in
1839 borrowed a disguise...
a dress, from a local lady
called Rebecca...
who was the only Woman around
sufficiently statuesque to have a dress...
that would fit him.
The other idea is that they took
it from a verse in Genesis...
which begins ..."And they
blessed Rebekah".
And then it goes on to
prophesise that...
"Rebekah's children will possess the
gates of those that hate them".
"Rebecca and her daughters" didn't succeed in
abolishing the tolls completely...
but in 1844, new legislation was
brought in to simplify the toll rates.
And new technology brought
some relief.
The expansion of the railways into Wales
in the 19th century was hugely beneficial.
And, of course, it obviously did a
lot to make roads less important...
so there was far less reliance on
private transport...
as people used
trains instead.
So that was probably quite handy for local
farmers, I would have thought.
- And a general increase in living standards.
- Yes, absolutely.
I'm rejoining those transformative tracks,
in search of a bed for the night.
The West Wales line continues
to serve the local community.
Some of the smaller stations
are request stops.
Hello!
Do I need to request the train to
stop at Carmarthen?
- No - Carmarthen's a main station.
- Okay, great.
There we go.
You don't have too many trains
on this line...
but they're very full when they run,
aren't they?
Oh, they are, yes.
Always a busy train!
That's great.
I'm using the line to reach one of South-West
Wales's most historic towns...
Carmarthen - where my Victorian guidebook
tells me that I'll find the Ivy Bush hotel.
Before the arrival of the railways,
it was a thriving coaching inn...
whose patrons included
naval personnel...
travelling to and from the
sheltered waters of the Haven.
I'm moved by the true love between
Admiral Horatio Nelson...
a national hero and
married man...
and Emma Hamilton, a former
prostitute and married woman.
They came here, together, to the Ivy Bush hotel
in 1802 - accompanied by her husband...
who often provided cover
for their illicit affair.
I've often thought it was lucky that we
didn't have a tabloid press in those days.
Otherwise, Nelson would have been
hounded out of public life...
and we would have had to find someone
else to fight the Battle of Trafalgar.
A fresh day dawns, and it's time for me
to explore the beautiful county...
to which Carmarthen
gives its name.
Bradshaw's says "Carmarthenshire is
mountainous and woody"...
"the air is mild and salubrious, and the whole
country is remarkably healthy and fertile."
After all the rain that it must have taken
to produce this vivid green...
today the colour is outstanding
in this summer sun.
Carmarthenshire is known as
"the Garden of Wales"...
and its rolling hills appear to have
changed little in centuries.
But in the 1860s, with the arrival
of the railways...
the industrial age burst upon this
peaceful landscape.
In Victorian times, this service was
known as the "lazy line"...
because the farmer with his sheep,
the farmer's Wife with her cheese...
bound for the market in Carmarthen,
could flag down the train at any point!
An arrangement that combined
convenience with total unpredictability.
- Could you take my Bradshaw's, please!
- Sure.
I'm hearing the history of the
Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway...
from enthusiast Jeremy John.
Jeremy, this lovely line - What
was it first built for?
Well, initially, the directors of the Carmarthen
and Cardigan Railway Company...
wanted to reach Cardigan -
and not Aberystwyth.
I think the idea was to use Cardigan
as a deep-sea port...
for purposes of trade.
And, in the middle of the 19th century, a lot
of the railway companies were really fed up...
with the stranglehold that
Liverpool docks had.
So, that was the
initial plan.
In fact, the railway company ran out of
money before the tracks reached Cardigan.
But even so, it changed life
in Carmarthenshire.
I think the farmers made good
use of it, didn't they?
Yes. The result of it all was the economy
of the rural areas expanding.
It was a tremendous boost for people in
the middle of the 19th century, you know?
And a good example, really, is that I
suppose you could milk your cows here...
and get the fresh milk to
London Within hours.
Because I doubt if many cows were kept
in the middle of central London...
in the middle of the
19th century!
By 1867, tracks built by different companies
connected Carmarthen with Aberystwyth...
fifty-six and a half miles away
on the west coast.
It Wasn't exactly a high-speed
railway, was it?
Oh, no, no, no. It took hours to
get to Aberystwyth.
With over 24 stops and all these
various halts, you know?
So, in some ways, maybe it didn't make an
awful lot of money and, especially later on...
in the 1960s - when, of course,
you had the mini car...
I mean, if people took about three and a
half hours to get to Aberystwyth...
but you could drive there in an hour, then
naturally they would elect to go by car.
By 1973, both passenger and
freight services had ceased...
on the Carmarthen to
Aberystwyth railway.
But five years later, a short stretch
reopened as the Gwili Heritage Line...
sustained by
passionate volunteers.
That was a great run -
thank you!
You're welcome!
Ohh! What are you
doing there?
Just cooking up some dinner, we are.
So We've got some...
bacon and some sausages, some egg -
and a nice lamb chop.
Well, you do know how to treat
yourselves, don't you?
That's excellent!
A railwayman's lunch.
There are big plans afoot for
the railways future.
- Hello!
- Hello!
To hear more, I've donned my boiler suit
to switch from steam to diesel.
[TRAIN HORN]
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!
Volunteers are extending
the railway...
to provide an extra one and
three-quarter miles of track...
and a new station.
Hi!
I've travelled to the end of the line to
pitch in - checking the so-called "keys"...
that hold the track in place, with
volunteer Matt Bowen.
Now, perhaps you'd like
to have a go?
[MICHAEL LAUGHS]
Where are there any to do?
Over here?
- There's quite a few over here.
- Oh, yeah - all of these are out.
That's right - just like that. And
then give it a good whack.
That's it.
There we are -
that should do.
So, how long have you been
with the railway, Matt?
Well, I first started when I was eleven,
and I'm now thirty-six!
[LAUGHTER]
That's amazing.
And, today, are you getting kids
coming in at that age?
Yes, we are. We've got a new
generation coming in...
which is great for the future.
But, hopefully...
we'll have people of all ages here
and they all find enjoyment.
Are you moved by the history
of this railway line?
Very much so, yes. There's a lot of social
history as well as railway history.
It's a glimpse of
the past.
- And just Wonderful to bring it back.
- Absolutely, absolutely.
I'm now rejoining the 21st-century
railway network...
to reach my final stop on
today's journey.
And this stretch of the West Wales
line is a real treat.
Snaking along the valley
of the River Towy...
this railway showcases the
best of South Wales.
I had no idea it was going to be
such a beautiful ride!
- Lovely journey, isn't it?
- You've got the best side, there.
Oh, yeah? I'm sitting on the
right side...! Okay.
- You going far?
- Yeah, I'm going to Cardiff.
Do you know this
line quite Well?
Yeah, I've travelled it. Well, up to a year
ago I used to come on this line every week...
down to Cardiff and back.
I live in Carmarthen.
- Nice line?
- It's a brilliant line.
It's a beautiful line, actually. From
Carmarthen down to Llanelli...
you get some fantastic
views of castles.
And, of course, if you're into wildlife
there's fantastic bird variety.
Well, thank you.
Enjoy your journey.
And I know I'm going to enjoy mine more
as you've given me some pointers.
Thank you!
The view is spectacular.
But I'm about to swap the
lush green of the countryside...
for the urban landscape
of Swansea.
Which was, in Bradshaw's day,
"the important seat of the copper trade".
Ore, shipped from Cornwall and
elsewhere, was smelted...
using the abundant
local coal.
And the finished product
was in hot demand.
Used by 19th-century engineers in everything
from locomotive fireboxes to electrical wires.
In that era of dizzying technological
change, the railways were just...
one of the developments
revolutionising life.
From Bradshaw's snapshot of Swansea.
I want to focus on two things.
The Royal Institution of South Wales,
which was established in 1835...
and Penllergaer - which is described as
"the seat of John Llewellyn, esq".
And I'm sure that I'll develop a
connection between the two.
The technology in my sights
is photography...
which reached new heights in
Victorian Swansea.
To find out more I'm heading
for the Swansea Museum...
set up by members of the Royal
Institution of South Wales in 1841.
Here, local industrialists, businessmen
and amateur scientists...
came together to discuss the
latest breakthroughs...
in science, technology and
the arts.
I'm meeting Michael Pritchard from
the Royal Photographic Society.
- Michael, hello.
- Hello, Michael. Nice to meet you.
- Very good to see you.
- Take a seat.
Now, I believe, I'm in the former
Royal Institution of South Wales...
and I've come in pursuit of John Llewellyn.
Can you help me?
Yes, indeed. John Llewellyn - in fact, John
Dillwyn Llewellyn, to give him his full name...
was one of the pioneers of
British photography.
He got very involved in the process as
soon as photography was announced.
And was there a connection with the
Royal Institution of South Wales?
Yeah. Llewellyn's father and Llewellyn himself
were involved in setting up the Institution.
The son of a Swansea landowner,
John Dillwyn Llewellyn...
was a Victorian renaissance man
with interests including astronomy...
horticulture,
and local politics.
His passion for photography was sparked
after he married Emma Talbot...
in 1833. Her cousin,
William Henry Fox Talbot...
created the world's first
photographic negative.
The Dillwyn Llewellyns created
some of the first family albums...
including this remarkable one,
shot from 1853.
What we have here is Llewellyn's family on
Guy Fawkes Night at his estate at Penllergaer.
Oh, how superb!
That is superb!
Now, was it quite revolutionary to do
these kind of family shots?
It was unusual, certainly. But, because there
were so many photographers in the family...
I suspect he had rather more leeway
in getting people to stand still.
But also, Llewellyn was important because
he developed new ways of photographing.
He developed a new process that would allow
him to photograph at faster shutter speeds.
So he was able to capture some
of these subjects...
that some of his contemporaries
were not able to do.
It really is amazing!
And one of the things that is
so good is the dynamism.
I mean, this figure here - who is actually
John Llewellyn himself...
appears to be pitchforking
the bonfire.
But he would have been posed
to do that, would he?
Yes, he Would. I think we
have to accept that...
photography Wasn't quite as
advanced as it is today.
So there's an element of posing. But you're
right, it has that sense of movement.
The Way the smoke gives it a very
ethereal feel, and a sense of movement...
and Wind, there. I think it's a
fantastic example of what...
photography was capable of
at that time.
Dillwyn Llewellyn
soon developed a following...
with works bought
by Queen Victoria herself.
Some of his most beautiful images were
inspired by his family estate at Penllergaer.
And this is the upper waterfall
on the estate.
The water appears to be moving -
it's absolutely full of light.
The tree in the foreground is
perfectly in focus...
all the woods in the background
have been thrown out.
That is a fantastic
piece of work.
His artistic talent leaps
from the page.
Yeah, it does. And this is Where I think
he really does add something to it.
People like Talbot, although he
nominally invented photography...
Talbot approached it
as a scientist.
Llewellyn approached it as an artist, and I think
that's the real difference between the two.
Just outside Swansea, the waterfall
immortalised by Dillwyn Llewellyn is still there.
And the techniques that he
used to capture it...
are practised today by
photographer Tony Richards.
- Tony, hello!
- Hello there, Michael.
Lovely piece of equipment, that. Around
the vintage of John Dillwyn Llewellyn?
Yes, yes. Cameras just
after; lens is exact.
I'd like to have a Victorian portrait
of myself taken here.
What would be your pointers
for a Victorian portrait?
For a Victorian portrait?
Stand very still.
Long exposures.
Try not to smile.
The tradition for portraiture was
unsmiling - a serious face.
If you're smiling, you're seen
as a bit of a buffoon!
I wish someone had told
me that long ago!
Tony's using the so-called
"wet-plate collodion" process...
developed in
the 1850s.
A sheet of chemically treated glass is
bathed in light-sensitive silver nitrate...
before being placed
in the camera.
Twenty seconds...
from now!
When the plate is exposed to light, the
chemical reaction creates a negative image.
And relax! Well done.
To fix the image, more chemicals
are added...
then the result can
be revealed.
That was quick, Tony. You've just
done that in the back of the van?
Yes - a little dark room
in the back.
But I can't see very much at the moment.
What's going to happen next?
Now We're going to pour on
some photographic fixer...
which will wash away the unactivated silver,
and We're left with a positive image.
There I am - appearing!
And, if I say it myself, looking rather
good. Well done, Tony!
Thank you very much.
There you go.
That is fantastic!
From photography to railways
to shipbuilding...
on this part of my journey I've searched
for reminders of Victorian Wales.
But I've also been struck by a forgotten,
darker side of 19th-century history.
I am moved by the Rebecca rioters -
those desperate farmers...
driven to violence by
their poverty.
Their grievances were lifted
during Bradshaw's time...
as railways opened new markets
for Welsh farm produce.
They've been partly forgotten because they
predate the development of photography...
which has bequeathed to us those
unmistakeable, formal images...
which define the
Victorian age.
On the next leg of my journey, I discover
the Welsh talent for tongue twisters.
There's Llandeilo to Llandovery,
Llandovery to Llanwrtyd...
You don't get confused with
all your Llans, do you?
Well, I don't!
[LAUGHTER]
Step into my dancing shoes
for a quadrille.
And put my schoolboy scrumping
days to good use.
- That is delicious.
- Nice and fruity, isn't it?
Ahh!
Be even better when it's alcoholic.
[LAUGHTER]
Definitely! Part of your
five-a-day, that.
[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've embarked on a new journey
that begins in Wales...
a territory once thought so troublesome that
English monarchs peppered it with castles.
Since 1301 they've taken care to name
their heir apparent Prince of Wales.
The Industrial Revolution transformed
the South, so that by Victorian times...
despite its remoteness from
the seat of power...
it was valued by the national economy,
and by the Royal Family.
My journey will take me across
Bradshaw's Britain, from west to east.
From the industrial powerhouse
of South Wales...
I'll see how the railways left no
corner of the land unchanged...
through the agricultural heartlands of
the Welsh Borders and the Cotswolds.
I'll finish by travelling between the
twin pillars of English academia...
of Oxford and Cambridge.
The first leg will cover
65 miles...
from the Welsh west coast, via
Carmarthenshire, to Swansea.
I'll visit the dockyard that built
Queen Victoria's royal yacht.
When she was launched, she was the biggest
yacht of any kind in the World.
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're smiling...
you're seen as a bit of a buffoon!
[LAUGHTER]
I wish someone had told
me that long ago!
My first stop will be Pembroke Dock -
which Bradshaw's tells me is...
"the seat of a royal dockyard at the
head of that magnificent inlet"...
"called Milford Haven."
The town takes its name from
the Welsh "penfro"...
meaning
"head of a peninsula".
The dockyard is celebrating
its bicentenary.
It was built in 1814, when we were still
at war with Napoleon Bonaparte.
By Victorian times it was still sewing
country - and, especially, Queen.
Before the arrival of the railway in 1864, this
was an isolated corner of the country.
But the deep waters of the Haven made
it an ideal site for a shipyard.
And, as Britain battled Napoleonic
France in the early 19th century...
the Admiralty built naval
vessels here.
I'm surveying the town's history from a
19th-century gun tower with Martin Cavaney.
The dockyard only opens as the Napoleonic
wars are coming to an end.
Was that then a problem for the
dockyard at Pembroke?
No - far from it. Pembroke Dock
became "Boomtown, Wales".
People came from all over the country
here to work at the dockyard.
It employed 3,000 men at its height
and, of course...
you had to service them with
shops, pubs, houses.
So this place suddenly expanded out
from a greenfield site into a town.
The gun tower dates from the
town's Victorian heyday...
by which time Britannia ruled the waves
with the biggest and best navy in the World.
Victory over Napoleon at
Waterloo, in 1815...
had marked the start of a new era of peace -
but the Admiralty remained watchful.
1848/49, the year of revolution in
Europe - especially in France...
it was realised that the British dockyards
were wide open to attack from the sea.
So, in 1849, Lord Palmerston ordered
a defence-building programme...
and a chain of fortifications was
built to protect the dockyard...
stretching the twelve miles down to the
mouth of the Haven Waterway.
Were these guns
ever fired?
Never fired in anger.
Its defences were three of these
cannons - on the roof.
And then on the ground floor there
were three 12lb howitzers...
which could be moved around the
building to fire from any of the windows.
- Better safe than sorry, I suppose!
- Yes.
From sailing boats to
industrial-age steamships...
263 naval vessels were built here over
the lifetime of the royal dockyard.
But not all of them were
designed with war in mind.
The Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre
commemorates the yachts...
that added prestige to Queen
Victoria's travels.
Ted Goddard is
my guide.
- Ted.
- Welcome, Michael.
Great to be here.
Ted, that is the most
handsome vessel!
Which one is this?
This is the third Victoria & Albert -
there were five royal yachts...
built here at
Pembroke dock.
That's the first V&A over
there, by the wall...?
Yeah.
Much smaller. So they got bigger
and bigger, did they?
Yeah, the first one was about
1,200 tons.
The second V&A was twice
that - 2,400..
And this one was
5,500 tons.
She was a mighty ship.
When she was launched, she was
the biggest yacht of any kind in the World.
That was in 1899...
and that record held right until
the 1930s.
I remember from my days in the
Ministry of Defence, that...
the yachts were traditionally
crewed by the Royal Navy.
Presumably that was true of
this one?
Yes. There was a crew of
just over 360...
who were accommodated in this
section of the ship...
just forward of
the bow.
The officers were next, then - their Ward
room was under the bridge.
And then the Royal Apartments -
here, and along here...
would occupy the rest
of the ship...
and the crew were crammed in
there like sardines.
Launched in 1899, the third
Victoria & Albeit...
wasn't commissioned for service until 1901,
the year of the Queen's death.
But the yacht lived on to serve
her descendants.
[COMMNENTATOR]
"And a salute of twenty-one guns"...
"booms out over the Solent, and echoes
back, seconds later, to its King."
In 1939, King George VI
- the Queen's father...
and the Queen Mother, the two princesses
Elizabeth and Margaret...
were taken on a cruise to
the West Country.
And the V&A anchored
off Dartmouth.
And that evening, a young Philip
Mountbatten came onboard to dine.
Of course, now the Duke of Edinburgh,
the Queen's husband...
and it's believed to be the
first recorded time...
that Philip Mountbatten and
Princess Elizabeth met.
So the yacht has a romantic - as
well as a royal - connection.
Indeed.
Indeed it has.
The Royal Dockyard closed in 1926,
and shipbuilding declined.
Today just one firm remains,
and before I leave...
I'm meeting its Operations
Director, Kevin Lewis.
- Kevin.
- Ah, good morning.
A ZOO-year-old dockyard...
that used to produce royal yachts
and frigates, and so on.
Good to see something still
happening here.
Yeah, it is good. It's the
history of the place...
and we're, I guess, trying to
make sure that it continues.
I've known the place since I was
around fourteen or fifteen...
when I first came clown here
with my father.
And I stood on the end of the dock
with my father - looking down into the dock...
watching the welders.
And I said to him...
"I think that's What I want to do when I
grow up. That's What I want to do".
[MICHAEL CHUCKLES]
What are you having to
do to this boat?
This boat's just come in -
we slipped it yesterday.
It's coming in for a
refit and refurb.
We're going to put new accommodation
into it - modify the superstructure...
- amongst other things.
- Big job?
Quite a big job, yes.
I'm glad to have glimpsed a reminder
of Pembroke Book's shipbuilding heritage.
It's now time to turn my back on the sea
and join the West Wales railway.
This branch was extended to serve
the dockyard in the 1860s.
I'm following it inland, Where local
people relied on farming...
in Bradshaw's day.
I'll leave this train at Narberth.
Bradshaw's tells me...
"It has no particular object of attraction,
being a small, neat town."
A picture of provincial tranquility,
you might think?
But you'd be wrong.
Shortly after Victoria came
to the throne...
its placidity was shattered by a severe
outbreak of public disorder.
The mid-'19th century was a difficult time for
Britain's agricultural communities...
due to population growth, poor
harvests, and economic depression.
Here in south west Wales, growing discontent
found extraordinary expression...
as masked men donned Women's clothing to
stage violent protests across the countryside.
Historian Rhian Jones is filling
me in on the story.
So you've brought me to this imposing
stone building. Why?
Well, this is
Narberth Workhouse.
It was built in 1820 - and in 1843 it
was a target of Rebecca rioters.
The Rebecca rioters were mainly
tenant farmers from this area...
who had several grievances
in the 1840s..
And they took out their grievances
on various targets...
including workhouses
and tollgates.
And these workhouses; now, if I remember,
there'd been a new Poor Law in 1834.
Yes, that's right.
So, conditions inside were wretched,
weren't they? Wretched.
Yes. Conditions in workhouses were
meant to be deliberately harsher than...
the worst conditions that you
might suffer outside...
deliberately to deter people from
accessing that support.
- "Choosing idleness".
- Exactly. Exactly.
As well as demanding better
conditions in workhouses...
the Rebecca rioters destroyed
the tollgates...
used to collect fees from road users,
which had grown in number...
since the early
19th century.
Dressed as women, the culprits
were hard to identify.
And, surely, there was a reason for
choosing the name "Rebecca"?
There's two conflicting theories about
this. The first is that...
the leader of the first riots in
1839 borrowed a disguise...
a dress, from a local lady
called Rebecca...
who was the only Woman around
sufficiently statuesque to have a dress...
that would fit him.
The other idea is that they took
it from a verse in Genesis...
which begins ..."And they
blessed Rebekah".
And then it goes on to
prophesise that...
"Rebekah's children will possess the
gates of those that hate them".
"Rebecca and her daughters" didn't succeed in
abolishing the tolls completely...
but in 1844, new legislation was
brought in to simplify the toll rates.
And new technology brought
some relief.
The expansion of the railways into Wales
in the 19th century was hugely beneficial.
And, of course, it obviously did a
lot to make roads less important...
so there was far less reliance on
private transport...
as people used
trains instead.
So that was probably quite handy for local
farmers, I would have thought.
- And a general increase in living standards.
- Yes, absolutely.
I'm rejoining those transformative tracks,
in search of a bed for the night.
The West Wales line continues
to serve the local community.
Some of the smaller stations
are request stops.
Hello!
Do I need to request the train to
stop at Carmarthen?
- No - Carmarthen's a main station.
- Okay, great.
There we go.
You don't have too many trains
on this line...
but they're very full when they run,
aren't they?
Oh, they are, yes.
Always a busy train!
That's great.
I'm using the line to reach one of South-West
Wales's most historic towns...
Carmarthen - where my Victorian guidebook
tells me that I'll find the Ivy Bush hotel.
Before the arrival of the railways,
it was a thriving coaching inn...
whose patrons included
naval personnel...
travelling to and from the
sheltered waters of the Haven.
I'm moved by the true love between
Admiral Horatio Nelson...
a national hero and
married man...
and Emma Hamilton, a former
prostitute and married woman.
They came here, together, to the Ivy Bush hotel
in 1802 - accompanied by her husband...
who often provided cover
for their illicit affair.
I've often thought it was lucky that we
didn't have a tabloid press in those days.
Otherwise, Nelson would have been
hounded out of public life...
and we would have had to find someone
else to fight the Battle of Trafalgar.
A fresh day dawns, and it's time for me
to explore the beautiful county...
to which Carmarthen
gives its name.
Bradshaw's says "Carmarthenshire is
mountainous and woody"...
"the air is mild and salubrious, and the whole
country is remarkably healthy and fertile."
After all the rain that it must have taken
to produce this vivid green...
today the colour is outstanding
in this summer sun.
Carmarthenshire is known as
"the Garden of Wales"...
and its rolling hills appear to have
changed little in centuries.
But in the 1860s, with the arrival
of the railways...
the industrial age burst upon this
peaceful landscape.
In Victorian times, this service was
known as the "lazy line"...
because the farmer with his sheep,
the farmer's Wife with her cheese...
bound for the market in Carmarthen,
could flag down the train at any point!
An arrangement that combined
convenience with total unpredictability.
- Could you take my Bradshaw's, please!
- Sure.
I'm hearing the history of the
Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway...
from enthusiast Jeremy John.
Jeremy, this lovely line - What
was it first built for?
Well, initially, the directors of the Carmarthen
and Cardigan Railway Company...
wanted to reach Cardigan -
and not Aberystwyth.
I think the idea was to use Cardigan
as a deep-sea port...
for purposes of trade.
And, in the middle of the 19th century, a lot
of the railway companies were really fed up...
with the stranglehold that
Liverpool docks had.
So, that was the
initial plan.
In fact, the railway company ran out of
money before the tracks reached Cardigan.
But even so, it changed life
in Carmarthenshire.
I think the farmers made good
use of it, didn't they?
Yes. The result of it all was the economy
of the rural areas expanding.
It was a tremendous boost for people in
the middle of the 19th century, you know?
And a good example, really, is that I
suppose you could milk your cows here...
and get the fresh milk to
London Within hours.
Because I doubt if many cows were kept
in the middle of central London...
in the middle of the
19th century!
By 1867, tracks built by different companies
connected Carmarthen with Aberystwyth...
fifty-six and a half miles away
on the west coast.
It Wasn't exactly a high-speed
railway, was it?
Oh, no, no, no. It took hours to
get to Aberystwyth.
With over 24 stops and all these
various halts, you know?
So, in some ways, maybe it didn't make an
awful lot of money and, especially later on...
in the 1960s - when, of course,
you had the mini car...
I mean, if people took about three and a
half hours to get to Aberystwyth...
but you could drive there in an hour, then
naturally they would elect to go by car.
By 1973, both passenger and
freight services had ceased...
on the Carmarthen to
Aberystwyth railway.
But five years later, a short stretch
reopened as the Gwili Heritage Line...
sustained by
passionate volunteers.
That was a great run -
thank you!
You're welcome!
Ohh! What are you
doing there?
Just cooking up some dinner, we are.
So We've got some...
bacon and some sausages, some egg -
and a nice lamb chop.
Well, you do know how to treat
yourselves, don't you?
That's excellent!
A railwayman's lunch.
There are big plans afoot for
the railways future.
- Hello!
- Hello!
To hear more, I've donned my boiler suit
to switch from steam to diesel.
[TRAIN HORN]
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!
Volunteers are extending
the railway...
to provide an extra one and
three-quarter miles of track...
and a new station.
Hi!
I've travelled to the end of the line to
pitch in - checking the so-called "keys"...
that hold the track in place, with
volunteer Matt Bowen.
Now, perhaps you'd like
to have a go?
[MICHAEL LAUGHS]
Where are there any to do?
Over here?
- There's quite a few over here.
- Oh, yeah - all of these are out.
That's right - just like that. And
then give it a good whack.
That's it.
There we are -
that should do.
So, how long have you been
with the railway, Matt?
Well, I first started when I was eleven,
and I'm now thirty-six!
[LAUGHTER]
That's amazing.
And, today, are you getting kids
coming in at that age?
Yes, we are. We've got a new
generation coming in...
which is great for the future.
But, hopefully...
we'll have people of all ages here
and they all find enjoyment.
Are you moved by the history
of this railway line?
Very much so, yes. There's a lot of social
history as well as railway history.
It's a glimpse of
the past.
- And just Wonderful to bring it back.
- Absolutely, absolutely.
I'm now rejoining the 21st-century
railway network...
to reach my final stop on
today's journey.
And this stretch of the West Wales
line is a real treat.
Snaking along the valley
of the River Towy...
this railway showcases the
best of South Wales.
I had no idea it was going to be
such a beautiful ride!
- Lovely journey, isn't it?
- You've got the best side, there.
Oh, yeah? I'm sitting on the
right side...! Okay.
- You going far?
- Yeah, I'm going to Cardiff.
Do you know this
line quite Well?
Yeah, I've travelled it. Well, up to a year
ago I used to come on this line every week...
down to Cardiff and back.
I live in Carmarthen.
- Nice line?
- It's a brilliant line.
It's a beautiful line, actually. From
Carmarthen down to Llanelli...
you get some fantastic
views of castles.
And, of course, if you're into wildlife
there's fantastic bird variety.
Well, thank you.
Enjoy your journey.
And I know I'm going to enjoy mine more
as you've given me some pointers.
Thank you!
The view is spectacular.
But I'm about to swap the
lush green of the countryside...
for the urban landscape
of Swansea.
Which was, in Bradshaw's day,
"the important seat of the copper trade".
Ore, shipped from Cornwall and
elsewhere, was smelted...
using the abundant
local coal.
And the finished product
was in hot demand.
Used by 19th-century engineers in everything
from locomotive fireboxes to electrical wires.
In that era of dizzying technological
change, the railways were just...
one of the developments
revolutionising life.
From Bradshaw's snapshot of Swansea.
I want to focus on two things.
The Royal Institution of South Wales,
which was established in 1835...
and Penllergaer - which is described as
"the seat of John Llewellyn, esq".
And I'm sure that I'll develop a
connection between the two.
The technology in my sights
is photography...
which reached new heights in
Victorian Swansea.
To find out more I'm heading
for the Swansea Museum...
set up by members of the Royal
Institution of South Wales in 1841.
Here, local industrialists, businessmen
and amateur scientists...
came together to discuss the
latest breakthroughs...
in science, technology and
the arts.
I'm meeting Michael Pritchard from
the Royal Photographic Society.
- Michael, hello.
- Hello, Michael. Nice to meet you.
- Very good to see you.
- Take a seat.
Now, I believe, I'm in the former
Royal Institution of South Wales...
and I've come in pursuit of John Llewellyn.
Can you help me?
Yes, indeed. John Llewellyn - in fact, John
Dillwyn Llewellyn, to give him his full name...
was one of the pioneers of
British photography.
He got very involved in the process as
soon as photography was announced.
And was there a connection with the
Royal Institution of South Wales?
Yeah. Llewellyn's father and Llewellyn himself
were involved in setting up the Institution.
The son of a Swansea landowner,
John Dillwyn Llewellyn...
was a Victorian renaissance man
with interests including astronomy...
horticulture,
and local politics.
His passion for photography was sparked
after he married Emma Talbot...
in 1833. Her cousin,
William Henry Fox Talbot...
created the world's first
photographic negative.
The Dillwyn Llewellyns created
some of the first family albums...
including this remarkable one,
shot from 1853.
What we have here is Llewellyn's family on
Guy Fawkes Night at his estate at Penllergaer.
Oh, how superb!
That is superb!
Now, was it quite revolutionary to do
these kind of family shots?
It was unusual, certainly. But, because there
were so many photographers in the family...
I suspect he had rather more leeway
in getting people to stand still.
But also, Llewellyn was important because
he developed new ways of photographing.
He developed a new process that would allow
him to photograph at faster shutter speeds.
So he was able to capture some
of these subjects...
that some of his contemporaries
were not able to do.
It really is amazing!
And one of the things that is
so good is the dynamism.
I mean, this figure here - who is actually
John Llewellyn himself...
appears to be pitchforking
the bonfire.
But he would have been posed
to do that, would he?
Yes, he Would. I think we
have to accept that...
photography Wasn't quite as
advanced as it is today.
So there's an element of posing. But you're
right, it has that sense of movement.
The Way the smoke gives it a very
ethereal feel, and a sense of movement...
and Wind, there. I think it's a
fantastic example of what...
photography was capable of
at that time.
Dillwyn Llewellyn
soon developed a following...
with works bought
by Queen Victoria herself.
Some of his most beautiful images were
inspired by his family estate at Penllergaer.
And this is the upper waterfall
on the estate.
The water appears to be moving -
it's absolutely full of light.
The tree in the foreground is
perfectly in focus...
all the woods in the background
have been thrown out.
That is a fantastic
piece of work.
His artistic talent leaps
from the page.
Yeah, it does. And this is Where I think
he really does add something to it.
People like Talbot, although he
nominally invented photography...
Talbot approached it
as a scientist.
Llewellyn approached it as an artist, and I think
that's the real difference between the two.
Just outside Swansea, the waterfall
immortalised by Dillwyn Llewellyn is still there.
And the techniques that he
used to capture it...
are practised today by
photographer Tony Richards.
- Tony, hello!
- Hello there, Michael.
Lovely piece of equipment, that. Around
the vintage of John Dillwyn Llewellyn?
Yes, yes. Cameras just
after; lens is exact.
I'd like to have a Victorian portrait
of myself taken here.
What would be your pointers
for a Victorian portrait?
For a Victorian portrait?
Stand very still.
Long exposures.
Try not to smile.
The tradition for portraiture was
unsmiling - a serious face.
If you're smiling, you're seen
as a bit of a buffoon!
I wish someone had told
me that long ago!
Tony's using the so-called
"wet-plate collodion" process...
developed in
the 1850s.
A sheet of chemically treated glass is
bathed in light-sensitive silver nitrate...
before being placed
in the camera.
Twenty seconds...
from now!
When the plate is exposed to light, the
chemical reaction creates a negative image.
And relax! Well done.
To fix the image, more chemicals
are added...
then the result can
be revealed.
That was quick, Tony. You've just
done that in the back of the van?
Yes - a little dark room
in the back.
But I can't see very much at the moment.
What's going to happen next?
Now We're going to pour on
some photographic fixer...
which will wash away the unactivated silver,
and We're left with a positive image.
There I am - appearing!
And, if I say it myself, looking rather
good. Well done, Tony!
Thank you very much.
There you go.
That is fantastic!
From photography to railways
to shipbuilding...
on this part of my journey I've searched
for reminders of Victorian Wales.
But I've also been struck by a forgotten,
darker side of 19th-century history.
I am moved by the Rebecca rioters -
those desperate farmers...
driven to violence by
their poverty.
Their grievances were lifted
during Bradshaw's time...
as railways opened new markets
for Welsh farm produce.
They've been partly forgotten because they
predate the development of photography...
which has bequeathed to us those
unmistakeable, formal images...
which define the
Victorian age.
On the next leg of my journey, I discover
the Welsh talent for tongue twisters.
There's Llandeilo to Llandovery,
Llandovery to Llanwrtyd...
You don't get confused with
all your Llans, do you?
Well, I don't!
[LAUGHTER]
Step into my dancing shoes
for a quadrille.
And put my schoolboy scrumping
days to good use.
- That is delicious.
- Nice and fruity, isn't it?
Ahh!
Be even better when it's alcoholic.
[LAUGHTER]
Definitely! Part of your
five-a-day, that.
[END THEME]