Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 6, Episode 19 - Oxford to Luton - 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 continuing a journey that
began in the west of Wales...
and will end in the east
of England.
Victorian scientific advances...
drew oh centuries of scholarship
in British universities.
Well-educated gentlemen,
schooled in the Christian virtues...
tended to be charitable.
My journey today will take me
from the cloisters of academia...
to houses for the poor...
from varsity to philanthropy.
[TRAIN HORN]
I began in naval Pembroke...
went underground
in Swansea...
tasted the fruits
of Herefordshire...
and ventured through the
rolling hills of the Cotswolds...
to discover a land
transformed by railways.
From here, I'll head
into Bedfordshire...
before ending my journey in the
scholarly city of Cambridge.
Today's leg takes me straight to
the heart of academia in Oxford...
then east to Bicester, and on to the
charitable town of Bedford...
before ending in Luton.
I discover a miniature edition
from my favourite publisher.
And this is actually the first
edition of Bradshaw's...
Ah!
That is exciting!
Very, very ephemeral
little publications...
so it's incredibly rare.
Marvel at the ambition
of a new railway.
You're going to raise this up...
- Yep.
Bring the rail across...
- Yep.
By this weekend..?
- Yes.
There's a man speaking
with confidence!
And learn the power
of a hat!
It's amazing. In a moment you've
converted me from...
an investment banker...
into... a rake!
According to Bradshaw's, "Oxford
has an advantage over Cambridge"...
"being placed among more
attractive scenery"...
and combining a greater variety
of splendid architecture."
As a Cambridge graduate,
I say "bunkum"!
But my guidebook is on safer ground
saying that "the Bodleian Library"...
"was founded in 1602
by Sir T. Bodley"...
"and contains nearly a quarter
of a million of books"...
"old, new, and rare"...
which speaks volumes...
for such an ancient
institution.
For a city whose university alumni
include some of the world's most...
innovative thinkers, it's
surprising to discover...
that the arrival of the railway, in 1844,
met with such great opposition.
College Wardens feared that the
bright lights of London...
would lure its students away
from their studies.
Yet for Victorian students
intrigued by science...
and the classification of
the natural world...
Britain's capital could not compete with the
university's main research library...
the Bodleian.
Today it holds over eleven
million items...
and is second in size only
to the British Library.
It's here that Bodley's Librarian
Richard Ovenden...
is to give me privileged access
to its rare collection.
Welcome! Welcome to
Duke Humfrey's Library.
In What Wonderful surroundings
I find you. It's like a...
sort of temple of
scholarship, isn't it'?
Absolutely - and it has been
for 400 years.
Yes. What a thought.
My Bradshaw's says that you have
"books old, rare, and new".
I certainly don't doubt that
you have "old".
Anything you Want to tell
me about?
Well, I thought we might start
with something rare.
One of Oxford's greatest sons was
the poet Percy Shelley.
And, of course, he married another
great Writer - Mary Shelley.
And this is the manuscript -
the earliest surviving drafts...
of her great literary
masterpiece: "Frankenstein".
Good heavens.
So this was written in the
summer of 1816...
when she and Percy were staying in
the villa of Lord Byron...
on the banks of
Lake Geneva.
And during a famous thunderstorm,
they had ghost-story competition...
and Mary Shelley invented the creature
that we know as Frankenstein.
It has the classic horror-story
beginning, doesn't it?
"It was on a dreary night of November
that I beheld my man completed"...
"with an anxiety that
almost amounted to agony."
And she continues: "by the glimmer of
the half-extinguished light"...
saw a dull, yellow eye of
the creature open."
"It breathed hard, and a convulsive
motion agitated its limbs."
Frankenstein's monster
comes to life.
Yeah - and sparking almost two
centuries of cultural life.
"Frankenstein" generated Words which
we use all the time...
when we're discussing science or
medical innovation...
and it all began when Mary had this
fantastic moment of genius.
Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" certainly
captured the early Victorians' imagination.
And by Bradshaw's day, the interplay of
science and the supernatural...
had become a
national preoccupation...
alongside a new appetite
for travel.
I thought it might be
interesting just to see...
the growth of the railway network in
England at the time of Bradshaw...
So here we have Pigot's map
of England and Wales...
with part of Scotland,
published in 1840.
There's much about this map
that we all recognise.
Here is What we now call the
West Coast Main Line.
And... I can tell you that
Cambridge has its railway...
but I'm not sure that
Oxford does?
No.
Well, those are fantastic examples.
I thought I'd just pull one small thing,
which was printed for...
a gentleman's jacket
pocket, like this.
And this is actually the first
edition of Bradshaw.
Ah! That is exciting.
- So, we can see...
the north-west of England,
we can see Lancashire...
and this fantastic little
railway map.
Very, very ephemeral little publication
so it's incredibly rare.
Now, the one thing that Bradshaw's
didn't tell me about...
because he couldn't -
was the future.
What is the future?
Well, the future is a mixture of
the physical and the digital.
And I think we should go and
look at that how.
Let us do that.
Thank you so much.
In 1946 a new Bodleian Library opened,
designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott...
the architect behind London's Battersea
Power Station, and the red telephone box.
Work is now underway to expand
and update the facility...
for 21 St-century needs...
and Richard is taking me
to see its progress.
We spent a year just moving...
all of those millions of books
and journals...
and the last year we spent
fitting out the interior.
We've just got the final few Weeks of
that, ready to open for the start of term.
And What's going
to be new?
It's really going to be
future-proofed for...
very high bandwidth, to enable the
highest levels of digital scholarship.
The new exhibition gallery's going
to be open freely to the public...
You name it - it's going to be
open to the World.
Anything more that
I should see?
I think we should go
up on the roof.
My word, Richard, that
is a glorious sight.
Well, it's a pretty amazing vista.
You can see...
the university church from the
12th, 13th centuries...
the Radcliffe Camera, James Gibbs'
fantastic building of 1749...
the unknown architect of the old
Bodleian, from the early 17th century...
and, of course, Wren's
Sheldonian Theatre...
his first commission as an
architect, finished in 1667.
This view will not have changed
much since Bradshaw's day.
And I think if Bradshaw's
were written today...
this balcony would be named
as the vantage point.
The next leg of my journey
leads me to Bicester...
the hub of two
exciting rail projects...
one of which will establish
the first new link...
between London and a major city
in over a hundred years.
With the line from Oxford to Bicester
Town currently out of service...
I've made my Way here under
my own steam.
When my Bradshaw's guide
was published...
they had just opened that
vital link of track...
that completed the Varsity Line
connecting Oxford and Cambridge.
By the time I was
at university...
the quickest Way between the two
cities was via London.
But Where
I'm standing now...
is new track that will enable you to
travel from Oxford to London Marylebone.
And it opens up the hope
that one day...
the boffins will again be able to travel
from university to university.
This ambitious project comes
at the time of the...
greatest investment in Britain's
rail network since the Victorian era.
My first port of call is Bicester Town
station, opened in 1850.
It enjoyed a connection with
the two old university cities...
until 1967, when the
Oxford to Bletchley...
and Bedford to Cambridge services
were withdrawn.
Today, Chiltern Railways is resurrecting
long-lost rail links, and upgrading the track.
I'm meeting Graham Cross,
from the railway company.
Graham, standing here amongst the
weeds at Bicester Town station...
presently closed at the moment - may
seem a strange place to ask about it...
but What is the scale
of this project?
This is a project costing Chiltern Railways
about 130 million pounds.
We're investing
in new infrastructure...
and new stations to greatly
improve the train services in this area.
And here at Bicester Town,
What is it you've been doing?
So, here at Bicester Town We're
constructing a brand-new station.
It's being upgraded from
single track to dual track...
and speeds are increasing from 40 mph
to 100 mph with modern signalling.
An extraordinary number
of changes.
There are other projects around
it, as well, aren't there?
That's right.
So from this station,
round about 2018/19...
you'll be able to take a train
through to Milton Keynes...
when the second stage of the
east-west project is complete.
And that is part of
a wider vision...
to continue to extend that railway
through Bedford and on to Cambridge...
so reinstating the Oxford to
Cambridge railway line.
That would be a fantastic
achievement, wouldn't it?
It would be marvellous.
But the plans don't
stop there.
A new stretch of track, three-quarters of
a mile long, is being laid at Bicester...
to connect the existing route
between Oxford and Bicester Town...
with the London Marylebone
to Birmingham Moor Street line.
One of the things, really, that
We're seeking to do here is to...
connect the parts of Southern England
which aren't well connected...
by rail at the moment.
And is that because there's
been a change...
in the sort of journeys that
people Want to make?
I think so, yeah. Twenty years ago, people
just Wanted to travel to London.
But as the economy has broadened
and places like Oxford and Bicester...
have grown in importance,
there's ever more demand now...
to travel between those places
Without going through London.
And that really is What
this project does.
Work on the new mainline
connection is underway...
just a mile from
Bicester Town station.
And there I'm meeting Senior
Construction Manager Merrick Murphy.
So, Merrick, I feel you've brought me
to the pivotal part of the project...
Well, What We're actually doing
is creating a tie-in point...
whereby you'll be able to come
from Marylebone in London...
and then turn out
to Oxford.
The line will be operational
in summer 2015.
So, We're putting in new points here?
- Yes.
And then we connect down
to a line that's running...
absolutely at right angles
to us at this point?
Yes, indeed.
What stage, then, are you
at right now?
We are in the earthworks phase,
whereby we're...
matching the embankment sizes, so
the rail can go directly on top.
So how much material do you
think this has taken?
I'd approximately say, at its current
state, 75,000 tons of material.
My goodness. And when are you
going to actually connect that rail to here?
This weekend We're going to be
bringing the earthworks through...
and getting the rail over
on this side.
I find that unbelievable.
You're going to raise this up...
- Yep.
Bring the rail across...
- Yep.
by this weekend...?
Yes.
There's a man speaking
with confidence!
Oh, we'll manage that.
No problem!
This time-critical task...
is supervised by Senior Site
Engineer Barry Burrows.
And I'm pleased to be given a
small part in its execution.
Thank you very much.
So...
this instrument tells you
what, exactly?
This controls the level of
the embankment.
So it's a GPS. I hope it's more
accurate than the one in my can?
Yes, a lot more accurate. And it's
giving us the level up there...
of how much material's to go
on at this current point.
So, if I'm reading this correctly, at this
point you need 456 mil to be added here?
Yes.
So What tonnage do you still
have to put on, do you think?
About seven to
ten thousand.
Seven to ten thousand - only about
a tenth of What you've already done?
Yeah - We've done
about 75, so...
So you're nearly there.
- Yep!
Congratulations. I think I can
safely leave it to you.
Thank you.
- Thank you, Barry!
Cheers.
- Bye.
I'm impressed by the vision behind the
Oxford to London main-line project...
and I'm sure that if George
Bradshaw were here today...
it would get his seal
of approval, too.
A new day, and I'm resuming my journey
at Bletchley station, heading north-east.
My first stop today
will be Bedford.
Bradshaw's tells me that a Lord Mayor of
London, William Harpur, was born here.
"The founder of
an extensive charity"...
"now possessing a revenue
of £2,000 per annum"...
"from land in Holborn, and
his native town."
"Being open to all, the charity
has the effect"...
"of drawing many families to the town,
Where there are 70 or 80 almshouses."
"Aims" has its origin in a Greek
word meaning "pity".
I prefer a word with a Latin
derivation: "benefaction"...
implying someone trying
to do good.
By the time of my guidebook, Bedford
had acquired sanitation and gas lighting...
and had been transformed from a
small agricultural community...
into an engineering hub.
But the focus of my visit today
is philanthropy...
and the generosity of a man
named William Harpur.
I'm heading to St Paul's Church,
Where he was buried in 1574...
to meet local historian,
James Collette-White.
James, hello.
- Hello, Michael.
Welcome to St Paul's.
- Thank you very much.
Since I've been in Bedford, lots
of references to William Harpur.
Street names - and to
Dame Alice, his Wife.
I've seen a statue of him. And this
Window is dedicated to them as Well?
Yes, indeed. This Window was
made in 1976...
erected by the Harpur Trust.
Sir William Harpur was born in Bedford.
He Went to a school in Bedford...
and that was obviously a very
important influence on his life.
Harpur Went on to work as a master of the
Merchant Taylors' Company in London.
An investment in land in the capital
made him rich...
and provided him with enough money
to transform his home town.
Tell me about his philanthropy
towards Bedford.
In the 1550s he bought the site of
What was to be the grammar school.
And this school was endowed by
land from Holborn. By the 1760s..
The land became part of
the Harpur Trust...
and out of that was endowed, from
the 1870s onwards, four public schools...
and the primary schools
of Bedford.
Until the late 19th century, when the
state-school system we know today...
began to take shape, many
Working-class children...
received no education at all
beyond Sunday school.
Harpur's generosity
spread opportunity.
He was also concerned
to tackle poverty.
How did the almshouses
come about?
There was always almsgiving,
but in the 1793 Act...
there was a provision to be made for
building twenty almshouses...
and then forty-six houses for the
industrious poor.
What happened, in fact, was
that the twenty were built...
and then the forty-six were,
in fact, created as almshouses...
because that was the need after
the great fire of Bedford of 1802.
By the time the railway arrived
in Bedford, in 1846...
the Poor Law of 1834 had
changed everything.
Parish assistance
to the needy...
was limited to those who entered
the grim workhouses.
Some rich industrialists saw it as their
Christian duty to support worthy causes...
“many of which are still
going strong today.
In today's Bedford, are there still people
benefiting from the Harpur Trust?
Indeed - in Harpur House...
which was built from the sale of
the western part of the old almshouses.
I must go and see the people there.
- Very good.
There are nearly 1,800 almshouse
charities in the United Kingdom.
The Harpur Trust provides accommodation
to twenty-five elderly people...
in Harpur House.
Many of the residents are from
Bedford, and Went to Harpur schools...
so they've known the Harpur
name all their lives.
Good morning, everybody!
Good morning, Michael!
Lovely to see you.
May I sit here?
You may.
- Thank you very much indeed.
How long have you been here, sir?
- About ten Weeks.
So, you're...
- I'm a new boy.
You ARE a new boy!
- Yes.
And how are you settling in?
Very well. I came in on the
Sunday, and by Monday...
I felt as though I'd been
here for years. .!
I really settled in, yes - and I'm
happy I made the move.
May I join you for a minute?
- Please do.
Are you from Bedford?
- Well, I was born in Harpur Street.
You were born in Harpur street?!
- Yeah, yeah.
So... at the beginning of your life, you
lived in a place named after Harpur...
Yeah...
- and here you are now...
living in a place named after
Harpur. That's extraordinary!
It is extraordinary - yes!
Hello, ladies and gentlemen.
Now, do we have...
um... two sisters here?
- Yes.
We are a
real Bedford family.
Our mum and dad used to live
in Dame Alice Street.
Dorothy's in-laws used to live in
Dame Alice Street.
And one of my brothers... they
lived in Dame Alice Street also.
Do you think While We're here,
ladies and gentlemen...
we should raise our tea cups
and drink a sip...
to Sir Wiliam Harpur, and Dame Alice!
- Dame Alice!
In the 16th century it was possible
to become fabulously wealthy...
as it is today.
For those now who are rich, and
who are considering philanthropy...
think of the case
of Sir William Harpur.
Five hundred years after his birth, he's
still remembered for his charity...
and praised by his
beneficiaries.
Back at Bedford station, it's a short,
twenty-minute ride to the final destination...
on this leg of
my journey.
My next stop, Luton, was famous
for hats in Bradshaw's time...
being, as my guidebook says,
"a town of straw-plaiters".
There were, in fact, many
thousands in Bedfordshire.
So I'll Weave in a visit
as I head onwards.
By the time of my guidebook, Luton
had been transformed...
from a country market town
to a busy urban centre...
thanks to a thriving straw-hatting
and plaiting industry.
Its good fortune arose out of an embargo
on straw imports from the Continent...
during the Napoleonic Wars of
the early 19th century...
and the unprecedented
demand that this placed...
on Bedfordshire's Wheat
and corn producers.
One company to reap the benefits
was Walter Wright Hats.
Philip, hello...
- Hello, and Welcome to Walter Wright's.
Thank you very
much indeed.
When you meet someone for
the first time - for example, me...
do you find that you're always
sizing them up?
It's not just size; it's the proportion
of hat - and it's the demeanour.
So you have to find a hat
that just reflects...
their look, their style...
their message... and the environment
where that net's going to be worn.
No respectable Victorian man or
Woman would leave home Without a hat.
They were expected to know when,
where, and how to Wear it.
So, having sized me up
and studied my demeanour...
what do you think we
should look at?
Well, it's got to be... classical,
but with an edge of fun.
Ah...
This is a brushed fur felt.
So we have the severe...
bad look at a wedding.
However...
[MICHAEL GIGGLES]
Champagne Charlie would've always
worn it on a slight angle...
to soften the eyes.
It's amazing. In a moment,
you've converted me from...
an investment banker
into... a rake!
Ooh!
I quite fancy myself
in that.
Copper...
rake.
[LAUGHTER]
D'you know, I've learnt more
about hats in the last minute...
than in the rest of my life.
Mmm. It's my passion.
Top hats were standard,
year-round attire...
for the upper- and middle-class
Victorian gent...
until the late 19th century, when the straw
boater became de rigueur in summer.
Philip has offered to show me What
goes into creating this classic design.
Around the late 1800s..
These blocks would've been
made solely out of Wood.
The process of wooden blocking
meant that...
the dehydration process
was a lot slower.
They would have to dry them
in an oven.
By having the aluminium hot, it
means the fibre dries oh the block.
It's a lot quicker.
So by the 1910s, 1920s it meant
my great-grandmother...
could produce a thousand
dozen a week...
as opposed to a lot less
using Wood.
So, We've taken a
natural straw...
and now We're going to
very gently...
ease the fibre.
- Whoa! That's quite hot!
It's as warm as an iron.
- Oh, goodness!
A good blocker - you can tell he
knows What he's doing...
because he can take the Sunday
roast out of the oven...
without using oven gloves.
And What are you
doing now?
I'm putting the string around
the edge of the block...
which stretches the material...
and gives the machinists
an edge to go by.
Just going to pop her up...
into the other side
of the mould...
And more heat
applied there?
More heat applied - so she's
now being fully baked...
top and under.
Now, your family's been in
hats for a long time...
My great-grandfather...
he'd been making hats for 400
years; or, his family, for 400 years.
It's in the blood, I guess.
Ah, yes - that's nice and dry.
And holding its shape.
- Yep.
And so there is your boater.
Hmm... not quite.
You're right.
Next step. Follow me.
Thank you!
Michael - Janet.
- Janet, hello.
And you're going to take
the hat to the next stage?
I'm going to out this
edge off...
so it comes down to
this line.
Then I'm going to put
a wire in it.
This has given Janet a clear mark...
a clear edge to work to
with her scissors.
It's a lovely, scrunchy
noise it makes!
Right, now that is looking
like a boater...
I'll give you that!
After the edge has
been trimmed...
a reed is inserted to
strengthen the brim...
and then sewn into place.
Wow. Done.
The next stage is to stitch in
the headband...
to keep the hat
in place.
Wow, Janet... that is
extraordinary skill.
And absolutely faultless.
Fantastic.
So, now to Linda - for
the decoration.
Hello, Linda.
- Hello. Nice to meet you.
Very good to see you.
How does a chap choose
his ribbon colour?
Choice is from old school
colours...
old regiment... old university...
old college...
or...
- Old party - how about that?!
Well... there's a surprise!
An historic hat for an
historic party.
The perfect Way to end my day.
I think of my guidebook as a
valuable historic volume...
but it doesn't compare with George
Bradshaw's earliest railway publication...
which I encountered in
Oxford University.
Even before Sir Thomas Bodley
had bequeathed his library...
Sir William Harpur had left
money for the relief...
of the poor in Bedford.
Good works that continue
to this day.
It will soon be possible again
to travel by train...
from Oxford to Bedford.
And on that great day...
I'll throw my hat in the air!
Next time, I get to grips with a
Victorian melodrama.
It's a story about a signalman...
who gets the opportunity to
either save his son...
or crash a train.
[HORRIFIED GASP]
I hear ghoulish hospital tales...
Something like an amputation...
would've taken around
two to three minutes.
Have to work extremely fast!
And learn about the student days
of Charles Darwin.
These are the actual beetles...
that gave him so much pleasure,
and so much obsession...
when he was an undergraduate.
This is absolutely stunning!
[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 continuing a journey that
began in the west of Wales...
and will end in the east
of England.
Victorian scientific advances...
drew oh centuries of scholarship
in British universities.
Well-educated gentlemen,
schooled in the Christian virtues...
tended to be charitable.
My journey today will take me
from the cloisters of academia...
to houses for the poor...
from varsity to philanthropy.
[TRAIN HORN]
I began in naval Pembroke...
went underground
in Swansea...
tasted the fruits
of Herefordshire...
and ventured through the
rolling hills of the Cotswolds...
to discover a land
transformed by railways.
From here, I'll head
into Bedfordshire...
before ending my journey in the
scholarly city of Cambridge.
Today's leg takes me straight to
the heart of academia in Oxford...
then east to Bicester, and on to the
charitable town of Bedford...
before ending in Luton.
I discover a miniature edition
from my favourite publisher.
And this is actually the first
edition of Bradshaw's...
Ah!
That is exciting!
Very, very ephemeral
little publications...
so it's incredibly rare.
Marvel at the ambition
of a new railway.
You're going to raise this up...
- Yep.
Bring the rail across...
- Yep.
By this weekend..?
- Yes.
There's a man speaking
with confidence!
And learn the power
of a hat!
It's amazing. In a moment you've
converted me from...
an investment banker...
into... a rake!
According to Bradshaw's, "Oxford
has an advantage over Cambridge"...
"being placed among more
attractive scenery"...
and combining a greater variety
of splendid architecture."
As a Cambridge graduate,
I say "bunkum"!
But my guidebook is on safer ground
saying that "the Bodleian Library"...
"was founded in 1602
by Sir T. Bodley"...
"and contains nearly a quarter
of a million of books"...
"old, new, and rare"...
which speaks volumes...
for such an ancient
institution.
For a city whose university alumni
include some of the world's most...
innovative thinkers, it's
surprising to discover...
that the arrival of the railway, in 1844,
met with such great opposition.
College Wardens feared that the
bright lights of London...
would lure its students away
from their studies.
Yet for Victorian students
intrigued by science...
and the classification of
the natural world...
Britain's capital could not compete with the
university's main research library...
the Bodleian.
Today it holds over eleven
million items...
and is second in size only
to the British Library.
It's here that Bodley's Librarian
Richard Ovenden...
is to give me privileged access
to its rare collection.
Welcome! Welcome to
Duke Humfrey's Library.
In What Wonderful surroundings
I find you. It's like a...
sort of temple of
scholarship, isn't it'?
Absolutely - and it has been
for 400 years.
Yes. What a thought.
My Bradshaw's says that you have
"books old, rare, and new".
I certainly don't doubt that
you have "old".
Anything you Want to tell
me about?
Well, I thought we might start
with something rare.
One of Oxford's greatest sons was
the poet Percy Shelley.
And, of course, he married another
great Writer - Mary Shelley.
And this is the manuscript -
the earliest surviving drafts...
of her great literary
masterpiece: "Frankenstein".
Good heavens.
So this was written in the
summer of 1816...
when she and Percy were staying in
the villa of Lord Byron...
on the banks of
Lake Geneva.
And during a famous thunderstorm,
they had ghost-story competition...
and Mary Shelley invented the creature
that we know as Frankenstein.
It has the classic horror-story
beginning, doesn't it?
"It was on a dreary night of November
that I beheld my man completed"...
"with an anxiety that
almost amounted to agony."
And she continues: "by the glimmer of
the half-extinguished light"...
saw a dull, yellow eye of
the creature open."
"It breathed hard, and a convulsive
motion agitated its limbs."
Frankenstein's monster
comes to life.
Yeah - and sparking almost two
centuries of cultural life.
"Frankenstein" generated Words which
we use all the time...
when we're discussing science or
medical innovation...
and it all began when Mary had this
fantastic moment of genius.
Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" certainly
captured the early Victorians' imagination.
And by Bradshaw's day, the interplay of
science and the supernatural...
had become a
national preoccupation...
alongside a new appetite
for travel.
I thought it might be
interesting just to see...
the growth of the railway network in
England at the time of Bradshaw...
So here we have Pigot's map
of England and Wales...
with part of Scotland,
published in 1840.
There's much about this map
that we all recognise.
Here is What we now call the
West Coast Main Line.
And... I can tell you that
Cambridge has its railway...
but I'm not sure that
Oxford does?
No.
Well, those are fantastic examples.
I thought I'd just pull one small thing,
which was printed for...
a gentleman's jacket
pocket, like this.
And this is actually the first
edition of Bradshaw.
Ah! That is exciting.
- So, we can see...
the north-west of England,
we can see Lancashire...
and this fantastic little
railway map.
Very, very ephemeral little publication
so it's incredibly rare.
Now, the one thing that Bradshaw's
didn't tell me about...
because he couldn't -
was the future.
What is the future?
Well, the future is a mixture of
the physical and the digital.
And I think we should go and
look at that how.
Let us do that.
Thank you so much.
In 1946 a new Bodleian Library opened,
designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott...
the architect behind London's Battersea
Power Station, and the red telephone box.
Work is now underway to expand
and update the facility...
for 21 St-century needs...
and Richard is taking me
to see its progress.
We spent a year just moving...
all of those millions of books
and journals...
and the last year we spent
fitting out the interior.
We've just got the final few Weeks of
that, ready to open for the start of term.
And What's going
to be new?
It's really going to be
future-proofed for...
very high bandwidth, to enable the
highest levels of digital scholarship.
The new exhibition gallery's going
to be open freely to the public...
You name it - it's going to be
open to the World.
Anything more that
I should see?
I think we should go
up on the roof.
My word, Richard, that
is a glorious sight.
Well, it's a pretty amazing vista.
You can see...
the university church from the
12th, 13th centuries...
the Radcliffe Camera, James Gibbs'
fantastic building of 1749...
the unknown architect of the old
Bodleian, from the early 17th century...
and, of course, Wren's
Sheldonian Theatre...
his first commission as an
architect, finished in 1667.
This view will not have changed
much since Bradshaw's day.
And I think if Bradshaw's
were written today...
this balcony would be named
as the vantage point.
The next leg of my journey
leads me to Bicester...
the hub of two
exciting rail projects...
one of which will establish
the first new link...
between London and a major city
in over a hundred years.
With the line from Oxford to Bicester
Town currently out of service...
I've made my Way here under
my own steam.
When my Bradshaw's guide
was published...
they had just opened that
vital link of track...
that completed the Varsity Line
connecting Oxford and Cambridge.
By the time I was
at university...
the quickest Way between the two
cities was via London.
But Where
I'm standing now...
is new track that will enable you to
travel from Oxford to London Marylebone.
And it opens up the hope
that one day...
the boffins will again be able to travel
from university to university.
This ambitious project comes
at the time of the...
greatest investment in Britain's
rail network since the Victorian era.
My first port of call is Bicester Town
station, opened in 1850.
It enjoyed a connection with
the two old university cities...
until 1967, when the
Oxford to Bletchley...
and Bedford to Cambridge services
were withdrawn.
Today, Chiltern Railways is resurrecting
long-lost rail links, and upgrading the track.
I'm meeting Graham Cross,
from the railway company.
Graham, standing here amongst the
weeds at Bicester Town station...
presently closed at the moment - may
seem a strange place to ask about it...
but What is the scale
of this project?
This is a project costing Chiltern Railways
about 130 million pounds.
We're investing
in new infrastructure...
and new stations to greatly
improve the train services in this area.
And here at Bicester Town,
What is it you've been doing?
So, here at Bicester Town We're
constructing a brand-new station.
It's being upgraded from
single track to dual track...
and speeds are increasing from 40 mph
to 100 mph with modern signalling.
An extraordinary number
of changes.
There are other projects around
it, as well, aren't there?
That's right.
So from this station,
round about 2018/19...
you'll be able to take a train
through to Milton Keynes...
when the second stage of the
east-west project is complete.
And that is part of
a wider vision...
to continue to extend that railway
through Bedford and on to Cambridge...
so reinstating the Oxford to
Cambridge railway line.
That would be a fantastic
achievement, wouldn't it?
It would be marvellous.
But the plans don't
stop there.
A new stretch of track, three-quarters of
a mile long, is being laid at Bicester...
to connect the existing route
between Oxford and Bicester Town...
with the London Marylebone
to Birmingham Moor Street line.
One of the things, really, that
We're seeking to do here is to...
connect the parts of Southern England
which aren't well connected...
by rail at the moment.
And is that because there's
been a change...
in the sort of journeys that
people Want to make?
I think so, yeah. Twenty years ago, people
just Wanted to travel to London.
But as the economy has broadened
and places like Oxford and Bicester...
have grown in importance,
there's ever more demand now...
to travel between those places
Without going through London.
And that really is What
this project does.
Work on the new mainline
connection is underway...
just a mile from
Bicester Town station.
And there I'm meeting Senior
Construction Manager Merrick Murphy.
So, Merrick, I feel you've brought me
to the pivotal part of the project...
Well, What We're actually doing
is creating a tie-in point...
whereby you'll be able to come
from Marylebone in London...
and then turn out
to Oxford.
The line will be operational
in summer 2015.
So, We're putting in new points here?
- Yes.
And then we connect down
to a line that's running...
absolutely at right angles
to us at this point?
Yes, indeed.
What stage, then, are you
at right now?
We are in the earthworks phase,
whereby we're...
matching the embankment sizes, so
the rail can go directly on top.
So how much material do you
think this has taken?
I'd approximately say, at its current
state, 75,000 tons of material.
My goodness. And when are you
going to actually connect that rail to here?
This weekend We're going to be
bringing the earthworks through...
and getting the rail over
on this side.
I find that unbelievable.
You're going to raise this up...
- Yep.
Bring the rail across...
- Yep.
by this weekend...?
Yes.
There's a man speaking
with confidence!
Oh, we'll manage that.
No problem!
This time-critical task...
is supervised by Senior Site
Engineer Barry Burrows.
And I'm pleased to be given a
small part in its execution.
Thank you very much.
So...
this instrument tells you
what, exactly?
This controls the level of
the embankment.
So it's a GPS. I hope it's more
accurate than the one in my can?
Yes, a lot more accurate. And it's
giving us the level up there...
of how much material's to go
on at this current point.
So, if I'm reading this correctly, at this
point you need 456 mil to be added here?
Yes.
So What tonnage do you still
have to put on, do you think?
About seven to
ten thousand.
Seven to ten thousand - only about
a tenth of What you've already done?
Yeah - We've done
about 75, so...
So you're nearly there.
- Yep!
Congratulations. I think I can
safely leave it to you.
Thank you.
- Thank you, Barry!
Cheers.
- Bye.
I'm impressed by the vision behind the
Oxford to London main-line project...
and I'm sure that if George
Bradshaw were here today...
it would get his seal
of approval, too.
A new day, and I'm resuming my journey
at Bletchley station, heading north-east.
My first stop today
will be Bedford.
Bradshaw's tells me that a Lord Mayor of
London, William Harpur, was born here.
"The founder of
an extensive charity"...
"now possessing a revenue
of £2,000 per annum"...
"from land in Holborn, and
his native town."
"Being open to all, the charity
has the effect"...
"of drawing many families to the town,
Where there are 70 or 80 almshouses."
"Aims" has its origin in a Greek
word meaning "pity".
I prefer a word with a Latin
derivation: "benefaction"...
implying someone trying
to do good.
By the time of my guidebook, Bedford
had acquired sanitation and gas lighting...
and had been transformed from a
small agricultural community...
into an engineering hub.
But the focus of my visit today
is philanthropy...
and the generosity of a man
named William Harpur.
I'm heading to St Paul's Church,
Where he was buried in 1574...
to meet local historian,
James Collette-White.
James, hello.
- Hello, Michael.
Welcome to St Paul's.
- Thank you very much.
Since I've been in Bedford, lots
of references to William Harpur.
Street names - and to
Dame Alice, his Wife.
I've seen a statue of him. And this
Window is dedicated to them as Well?
Yes, indeed. This Window was
made in 1976...
erected by the Harpur Trust.
Sir William Harpur was born in Bedford.
He Went to a school in Bedford...
and that was obviously a very
important influence on his life.
Harpur Went on to work as a master of the
Merchant Taylors' Company in London.
An investment in land in the capital
made him rich...
and provided him with enough money
to transform his home town.
Tell me about his philanthropy
towards Bedford.
In the 1550s he bought the site of
What was to be the grammar school.
And this school was endowed by
land from Holborn. By the 1760s..
The land became part of
the Harpur Trust...
and out of that was endowed, from
the 1870s onwards, four public schools...
and the primary schools
of Bedford.
Until the late 19th century, when the
state-school system we know today...
began to take shape, many
Working-class children...
received no education at all
beyond Sunday school.
Harpur's generosity
spread opportunity.
He was also concerned
to tackle poverty.
How did the almshouses
come about?
There was always almsgiving,
but in the 1793 Act...
there was a provision to be made for
building twenty almshouses...
and then forty-six houses for the
industrious poor.
What happened, in fact, was
that the twenty were built...
and then the forty-six were,
in fact, created as almshouses...
because that was the need after
the great fire of Bedford of 1802.
By the time the railway arrived
in Bedford, in 1846...
the Poor Law of 1834 had
changed everything.
Parish assistance
to the needy...
was limited to those who entered
the grim workhouses.
Some rich industrialists saw it as their
Christian duty to support worthy causes...
“many of which are still
going strong today.
In today's Bedford, are there still people
benefiting from the Harpur Trust?
Indeed - in Harpur House...
which was built from the sale of
the western part of the old almshouses.
I must go and see the people there.
- Very good.
There are nearly 1,800 almshouse
charities in the United Kingdom.
The Harpur Trust provides accommodation
to twenty-five elderly people...
in Harpur House.
Many of the residents are from
Bedford, and Went to Harpur schools...
so they've known the Harpur
name all their lives.
Good morning, everybody!
Good morning, Michael!
Lovely to see you.
May I sit here?
You may.
- Thank you very much indeed.
How long have you been here, sir?
- About ten Weeks.
So, you're...
- I'm a new boy.
You ARE a new boy!
- Yes.
And how are you settling in?
Very well. I came in on the
Sunday, and by Monday...
I felt as though I'd been
here for years. .!
I really settled in, yes - and I'm
happy I made the move.
May I join you for a minute?
- Please do.
Are you from Bedford?
- Well, I was born in Harpur Street.
You were born in Harpur street?!
- Yeah, yeah.
So... at the beginning of your life, you
lived in a place named after Harpur...
Yeah...
- and here you are now...
living in a place named after
Harpur. That's extraordinary!
It is extraordinary - yes!
Hello, ladies and gentlemen.
Now, do we have...
um... two sisters here?
- Yes.
We are a
real Bedford family.
Our mum and dad used to live
in Dame Alice Street.
Dorothy's in-laws used to live in
Dame Alice Street.
And one of my brothers... they
lived in Dame Alice Street also.
Do you think While We're here,
ladies and gentlemen...
we should raise our tea cups
and drink a sip...
to Sir Wiliam Harpur, and Dame Alice!
- Dame Alice!
In the 16th century it was possible
to become fabulously wealthy...
as it is today.
For those now who are rich, and
who are considering philanthropy...
think of the case
of Sir William Harpur.
Five hundred years after his birth, he's
still remembered for his charity...
and praised by his
beneficiaries.
Back at Bedford station, it's a short,
twenty-minute ride to the final destination...
on this leg of
my journey.
My next stop, Luton, was famous
for hats in Bradshaw's time...
being, as my guidebook says,
"a town of straw-plaiters".
There were, in fact, many
thousands in Bedfordshire.
So I'll Weave in a visit
as I head onwards.
By the time of my guidebook, Luton
had been transformed...
from a country market town
to a busy urban centre...
thanks to a thriving straw-hatting
and plaiting industry.
Its good fortune arose out of an embargo
on straw imports from the Continent...
during the Napoleonic Wars of
the early 19th century...
and the unprecedented
demand that this placed...
on Bedfordshire's Wheat
and corn producers.
One company to reap the benefits
was Walter Wright Hats.
Philip, hello...
- Hello, and Welcome to Walter Wright's.
Thank you very
much indeed.
When you meet someone for
the first time - for example, me...
do you find that you're always
sizing them up?
It's not just size; it's the proportion
of hat - and it's the demeanour.
So you have to find a hat
that just reflects...
their look, their style...
their message... and the environment
where that net's going to be worn.
No respectable Victorian man or
Woman would leave home Without a hat.
They were expected to know when,
where, and how to Wear it.
So, having sized me up
and studied my demeanour...
what do you think we
should look at?
Well, it's got to be... classical,
but with an edge of fun.
Ah...
This is a brushed fur felt.
So we have the severe...
bad look at a wedding.
However...
[MICHAEL GIGGLES]
Champagne Charlie would've always
worn it on a slight angle...
to soften the eyes.
It's amazing. In a moment,
you've converted me from...
an investment banker
into... a rake!
Ooh!
I quite fancy myself
in that.
Copper...
rake.
[LAUGHTER]
D'you know, I've learnt more
about hats in the last minute...
than in the rest of my life.
Mmm. It's my passion.
Top hats were standard,
year-round attire...
for the upper- and middle-class
Victorian gent...
until the late 19th century, when the straw
boater became de rigueur in summer.
Philip has offered to show me What
goes into creating this classic design.
Around the late 1800s..
These blocks would've been
made solely out of Wood.
The process of wooden blocking
meant that...
the dehydration process
was a lot slower.
They would have to dry them
in an oven.
By having the aluminium hot, it
means the fibre dries oh the block.
It's a lot quicker.
So by the 1910s, 1920s it meant
my great-grandmother...
could produce a thousand
dozen a week...
as opposed to a lot less
using Wood.
So, We've taken a
natural straw...
and now We're going to
very gently...
ease the fibre.
- Whoa! That's quite hot!
It's as warm as an iron.
- Oh, goodness!
A good blocker - you can tell he
knows What he's doing...
because he can take the Sunday
roast out of the oven...
without using oven gloves.
And What are you
doing now?
I'm putting the string around
the edge of the block...
which stretches the material...
and gives the machinists
an edge to go by.
Just going to pop her up...
into the other side
of the mould...
And more heat
applied there?
More heat applied - so she's
now being fully baked...
top and under.
Now, your family's been in
hats for a long time...
My great-grandfather...
he'd been making hats for 400
years; or, his family, for 400 years.
It's in the blood, I guess.
Ah, yes - that's nice and dry.
And holding its shape.
- Yep.
And so there is your boater.
Hmm... not quite.
You're right.
Next step. Follow me.
Thank you!
Michael - Janet.
- Janet, hello.
And you're going to take
the hat to the next stage?
I'm going to out this
edge off...
so it comes down to
this line.
Then I'm going to put
a wire in it.
This has given Janet a clear mark...
a clear edge to work to
with her scissors.
It's a lovely, scrunchy
noise it makes!
Right, now that is looking
like a boater...
I'll give you that!
After the edge has
been trimmed...
a reed is inserted to
strengthen the brim...
and then sewn into place.
Wow. Done.
The next stage is to stitch in
the headband...
to keep the hat
in place.
Wow, Janet... that is
extraordinary skill.
And absolutely faultless.
Fantastic.
So, now to Linda - for
the decoration.
Hello, Linda.
- Hello. Nice to meet you.
Very good to see you.
How does a chap choose
his ribbon colour?
Choice is from old school
colours...
old regiment... old university...
old college...
or...
- Old party - how about that?!
Well... there's a surprise!
An historic hat for an
historic party.
The perfect Way to end my day.
I think of my guidebook as a
valuable historic volume...
but it doesn't compare with George
Bradshaw's earliest railway publication...
which I encountered in
Oxford University.
Even before Sir Thomas Bodley
had bequeathed his library...
Sir William Harpur had left
money for the relief...
of the poor in Bedford.
Good works that continue
to this day.
It will soon be possible again
to travel by train...
from Oxford to Bedford.
And on that great day...
I'll throw my hat in the air!
Next time, I get to grips with a
Victorian melodrama.
It's a story about a signalman...
who gets the opportunity to
either save his son...
or crash a train.
[HORRIFIED GASP]
I hear ghoulish hospital tales...
Something like an amputation...
would've taken around
two to three minutes.
Have to work extremely fast!
And learn about the student days
of Charles Darwin.
These are the actual beetles...
that gave him so much pleasure,
and so much obsession...
when he was an undergraduate.
This is absolutely stunning!
[END THEME]