Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 7, Episode 12 - Redditch to Gloucester - full transcript
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 crisscross the country
150 years later, it helps me
to discover the Britain of today.
My journey, that began amongst
the metal-bashers of Birmingham,
continues south-west towards
the desolate moorlands of Devon.
On the way,
I'll be discovering the industries
and traditions that made
this part of the country
the engine room of Britain
as it emerged into the modern age.
My journey continues
south through the Midlands,
following the path
of the River Severn,
past great cathedral cities
to the ancient spas
and ports of the South West,
to end up in one of Britain's
most glorious national parks.
Today's leg begins in mediaeval
Redditch in Worcestershire.
I then move on to the spa town
of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire
before arriving in the county's
capital, Gloucester.
On this journey,
I come eye to eye with a needle...
That one has got four punches in.
Two big ones, two small ones.
They're the eyes of the needle.
Get to grips with
some of Gloucester's finest...
That's a lovely feel, isn't it, being
in contact with that gorgeous cheese.
Glorious Gloucester!
And raise the roof in tribute to
one of Britain's great composers.
[SINGING]
"And did those feet in ancient time"...
"Walk upon England's
mountains green?"
Today, my first stop is Redditch,
which Bradshaw's tells me
is a place, "remarkable for its
extensive needle manufactories."
I'm headed towards the sharp end
of the Industrial Revolution.
In the northeast of Worcestershire,
Redditch supposedly
derives its name from the red clay
of the nearby River Arrow.
It first appears
in the records in 1348
and Went on to flourish
in the Victorian era
before being designated a new town
in 1964
to house the overspilling
population of Birmingham.
But it's Redditch's own boom in
the 19th century that interests me.
And that was all down to
one industry,
not to put too fine a point on it.
I've come to the headquarters of
the English Needle and Tackle Company
to meet David Gibbs,
the man in charge of production.
Hello, David.
- Good morning. How are you?
Nice to see you.
David, tell me how Redditch
would've been
at the very height
of needle manufacture.
At the very height of needle
manufacture we would've been
producing 25-30 million needles
per week,
which was approximately 9% of the
world's productivity at the time.
Now, was it an industry that was
conducted traditionally
in big factories?
People moved into the area, the
needle-makers, around 300 years ago.
And they created What
we call a cottage-style industry.
Each family either concentrated
on hardening or pointing.
And over the years, they joined
forces, amalgamated with others,
and then the big houses
bought them up.
And Where we are in
the 20th century,
you have two or three big houses
controlling the needle trade.
The development of steam power
and advances in machinery
in the mid-19th century allowed the
complete needle-production process
to come under one roof.
This was keenly observed by
no lesser figure than the great
Victorian novelist and social
commentator, Charles Dickens,
who visited a needle factory
in Redditch
and marvelled at the miracle of
dexterity displayed by the Workers.
How does a needle begin?
It always begins with the
raw material.
We purchase wire in various sizes
to suit the needle.
It's carbon steel, so we can
heat-treat it and work with it.
Carbon steel, yet it appears
to be copper-coloured.
There's a very, very small copper
coating on the outside of the wire.
That helps prevent corrosion
and also helps with
the production processes.
It acts as a slight lubricant
as it works through
the stamping device on the combines.
The method of production and much
of the machinery in use today
has changed very little
since the time of my guidebook.
My tour starts at the beginning
as the points are fashioned
out of the steel wire.
This is Vicky.
- Hello, Vicky.
What Vicky's doing is feeding
the Wires through the machine.
There's a rubber feed Wheel
and a rubber saddle
and We've got
a grinding-stone there.
So as the needles are pushed
around by the feed wheel,
they're rolling against the stone
to put the desired point on.
These needles now have
points at both ends.
Yep.
And that's because
they're actually two needles.
There's two needles
made together, yeah.
I notice you don't Wear gloves.
Do you never prick your fingers?
No. Because they're quite long,
they're fine to handle.
What about at the beginning,
when you first started here.
Didn't you prick your fingers?
- No, not really.
I have a feeling I'm going to
do so today.
[THEY LAUGH]
Points made,
the next job is to fashion the eyes.
This is Steve.
- Steve, hello.
Michael.
- This is a combine.
This machine is probably
100 years old.
Is that so?
How long have you been
operating it, Steve?
Three years.
- Not 100, then?
No.
- And What are you doing here?
Right - that one
is stamping the shape of the eyes
at the top of the needle.
Right.
That one has got four punches in.
Two big ones, two small ones.
They're the eyes of the needle.
And, of course, at that point,
you've still got two needles.
Yeah. All that does is put a
little crimp in there, so that...
You can just set them off.
- Bash them off.
Have you got a lot of needles
coming through?
Yeah - about 2,000 an hour.
- 2,000 an hour?
Yep.
- On a 100-year-old machine?
Yep.
- That is extraordinary.
Thank you very much.
- That's all right.
Good luck.
Any rough edges
must now be smoothed off,
so it's all hands to the grindstone.
The thing is to use
the shadow on the stone.
And I'm going to press down
gently with this hand?
Yeah.
- Here goes.
[MACHINE NOISE]
Oh, that's lovely!
Portillo visits Redditch
and sparks fly!
Needle-making put 19th-century
Redditch firmly on the map
and made it a byword
for quality in the furthest reaches
of the British empire.
It's reported
that in the Sudan in 1850,
a packet of Redditch-manufactured
needles was so
highly prized that it could
buy you a Wife.
The fact that they got to Africa
in the first place is largely thanks
to the great innovation
of the age of the railways.
And my next stop is Cheltenham.
You used to be able to travel all
the way there on the Midland Line.
Thank you very much for the ride.
- That's all right.
Good bye.
But that possibility is long gone.
And so I've taken a cab to Ashchurch
to pick up the Great Western service
heading south.
I shall be alighting at Cheltenham,
which apparently is
"elegant and fashionable.
"Most of it is modern
and well built".
And I shall Want to examine
carefully its masonry.
TANNOY: Your next station stop
is Cheltenham Spa.
Cheltenham Spa is your next stop.
There are two reasons why
Cheltenham became one of the premier
health and holiday
resorts of the 18th century.
Its mineral Water springs,
and its position in the lee
of the Cotswolds,
affording a delightfully
mild climate in Winter and summer.
Bradshaw describes the currents
of air which contribute to the
purity and salubrity
of the town.
By the early 19th century,
the resident population
had grown from 3,000 to 35,000
and there was a building boom
to accommodate them
and the hordes of visitors who came
to indulge in leisure and pleasure.
But amongst the stucco-fronted
terraces and crescents,
one building stands out
for its rough-hewn exterior.
Tim.
- Michael.
Welcome to Cheltenham
Masonic Hall.
Do come in.
- Thank you.
The Freemasons' journey from
brotherhood of skilled stoneworkers
to a controversial secret society
took place
over several hundred years.
And during the Victorian era,
Freemasonry gained
powerful adherents.
Very impressive.
Freemasons organise themselves
into groups known as lodges.
And in 1823, Cheltenham became
the first town outside London
to have its own dedicated hall.
Tim, you've Welcomed me
to a beautiful building.
Tell me about it.
Well, Cheltenham was a very
important spa town in Regency times
and lodges did move into Cheltenham.
In those days,
they generally met in hotels.
One lodge decided they Wanted
to build their own lodge building
and they deputed one of their number,
George Underwood, to design it,
and this was built and
completed in 1823.
And how old is Masonry, then?
Well, it springs from
the mediaeval guilds
to the actual operative masons,
the masons
who built cathedrals and castles.
But then, like so many other
guilds, it was taken over
as more of a
social and self-help organisation.
Why, then, are Freemasons
different, say, from
arrow-makers or wheelwrights,
or any of the other guilds?
Where Masonry is different
is that some of the rituals
that all the
guilds used to practise,
evidenced in mummer plays
and things like that,
they took them in-house and
used them
for rituals for self-improvement.
Today, mysterious initiation rituals
and secret memberships can attract
suspicion and conspiracy theories.
But in the Victorian era,
there were no such qualms.
Famous masons of the time included
Lord Kitchener,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and
Sir Daniel Gooch,
Chief Engineer and Chairman
of the Great Western Railway,
who was an active proponent
of Masonry.
Do you think that the railways
made a difference to Freemasonry?
Oh, very much so. The essence
of Freemasonry is visiting.
With the introduction
of the railways,
it became easier
to visit other lodges.
We have an instance
in my own province
about the old
Severn Railway Bridge.
Brethren used to go from one side
to the other and visit one another.
The story is that they always asked
the station master on each side
to join the lodge so they
never missed the last train home.
Every aspect of this building
is weighted with symbolism.
The ancient tools
of the stonemasons' craft,
the square and compasses,
mallets and trowels.
And my first glimpse
of the inner sanctum
is an almost theatrical experience.
Well, Tim,
it's a very impressive room.
Sometimes referred to as a temple?
They were, yes. We tend to call
them meeting rooms now
because of the confusion
with religion.
And Freemasonry is not
a religion.
Now, you say that Freemasonry
is much like guilds,
but you have paraphernalia
which they don't have.
You Wear aprons, there are
so many symbols, stars and suns.
A chequerboard floor.
So there are extra elements
to Freemasonry, aren't there?
There are. It is an organisation
that is primarily, as I said,
a fellowship organisation made up of
men who Want to improve themselves.
And everything else flows from that.
And the instruction for a new Mason
is through a series of
small lectures or rituals.
And, yes, we do lean heavily
on symbolism.
You referred to the chequered
pavement.
That's just the dark and light,
the joys and sorrows
of our existence on this earth.
Which does sound quite religious.
- No, it's life.
[THEY LAUGH]
So, if I came to your most
solemn event in this meeting room,
in this temple,
What might I see performed here?
Firstly, there's always minutes
and there may be accounts,
reports from the secretary
and the like, and then,
if there is a candidate
for Freemasonry,
we'll undertake one of the rituals
that I referred to.
So a meeting may take up
to two hours,
but a meeting essentially
is followed by dinner.
[MICHAEL CHUCKLES]
Which can easily take another two hours.
I'm Wondering
whether George Bradshaw,
who I know was a Quaker,
was also a Freemason?
Well, there's no reason why
he shouldn't have been a Mason
because he was a Quaker,
but in anticipation of your visit,
I asked our library at head office
to check whether he was.
And after a rigorous search,
I'm afraid we cannot claim him
as one of our own.
Much as we'd wish to.
Tim, I've thoroughly enjoyed
the visit. Thank you so much.
With some of the mysteries of
the ancient brotherhood explained,
but still none the wiser
about the secret handshake,
I head off in search of a place
to spend the night.
My Bradshaw's mentions
one particularly fine building,
a sprawling Tudor manor
that overlooks the town
and the fabled
Cheltenham racecourse.
Bradshaw's tells me that this
splendid pile is called Southam,
the seat of Lord Ellenborough.
It's now a hotel. And I shall be
staying here tonight.
I'm feeling rather grand
because it's said that Anne Parr,
the sister-in-law of King Henry VIII,
once laid her head here.
It was still on her shoulders.
Not that I'm claiming parity
with a Parr.
The next day sees the beginning
of the final leg
of this part
of my journey.
It's time to bid farewell
to Cheltenham
and take the train west
to neighbouring Gloucester.
Bradshaw's tells me that
"pleasant hills overlook
the Vale of Gloucester.
"A rich,
loamy tract of 60,000 acres.
"Corn, fruit, beans,
turnips, hay, butter,
"and Double Gloucester cheese,
for which the county is noted".
It seems that,
like Little Miss Muffet,
I'm going to be dealing with
curds and whey.
It's only a short hop,
so it's soon time to quit my tuffet
and alight at the station.
Gloucester lies on the River Severn,
35 miles from the mouth
of the Bristol Channel.
At the time of my guidebook,
it was a thriving port,
the most inland in the country,
situated on the Gloucester and
Sharpness Canal, which opened in 1827
as the Widest and deepest
in England.
It was big enough for seagoing ships
to transfer from the river
to the canal.
When the railways arrived
in the 1840s,
they added to
Gloucester's importance
and helped to distribute
the town's home-grown products.
Bradshaw's talks about
Double Gloucester cheese,
but there's another lesser-known
variety called Single Gloucester,
which has also been made
for over 300 years.
To get a taste
of What sets them apart,
I've come to a dairy farm
outside the city to meet Rod Smart.
Hello, Rod.
- Hello, Michael.
Nice to meet you.
- Very good to see you.
And I find you at your
cheese-making.
Can I give you a hand with that,
by the way?
- Of course.
What We're doing, We're
trying to keep the curd moving.
Was this this morning's milk?
Well, we started at six o'clock this
morning with milk which was
milked from our cows last night
because I don't fancy getting
up before that to milk the cows.
What is the difference between
Single and Double Gloucester, Rod?
Single Gloucester cheese was
usually a cheese which was
made on the farm for the locality.
It was for the workers and
for the local people.
It's a younger, smoother cheese
and nowadays it has a PDO on it.
It's protected because there's only
a few people in Gloucestershire
who make it.
Double Gloucester was the cheese
that we sold off the farm.
Traditionally, it would have been
sent to the cities.
It was a good, strong, robust
cheese.
By train, I hope, Rod.
Oh, undoubtedly.
These 800 litres of milk will
eventually become
about 80kg of cheese.
Rod uses the old methods
handed down through
the generations of Gloucester
cheese-makers.
The separated curds are gathered
into moulds,
which are then put into a cheese
press to extract moisture.
So, here are some cheeses that
were made on Tuesday.
These are Victorian presses.
- Really?
Do you have any idea What
sort of weight
they might have put on the cheese?
Uh, 40lbs?
They were designed to put on up
to 20 hundredweight onto the cheese.
Now, if you unscrew that.
It's most definitely handcrafted
cheese, isn't it?
The next stage is to
unwrap and turn
Rod's latest batch of
Single Gloucesters before they are
returned to the press to smooth any
wrinkles left by the cloth.
Ooh, do you know, that's
awfully satisfying?
Yes.
- That's a lovely feel, isn't it?
Being in contact with that
gorgeous cheese.
Glorious Gloucester!
You wind it down until this lever
goes up to just above horizontal.
The cheeses are then
taken into the cold storage,
Where they are left to grow a rind
While the flavour matures.
Double Gloucester for around four
months, and the Single for two.
The moment of truth.
- Yes, indeed.
The pale one is the Single
Gloucester cheese, so
that's the best one
to start with.
Mm.
Lovely and mild and soft
and creamy.
And I think, at the end of it, you
should get little bit of a zing.
Pow! I just got it.
Really good.
What makes Double Gloucester
that colour?
We use annatto.
What's that?
- Annatto.
It's a colouring, comes from a South
American bean or seed.
It was originally the dye that the
South American Indians used,
the red body paints.
It was brought back.
Probably came into Bristol.
It was used in cheeses and
other foodstuffs
to make it look more appealing.
I'm trying to forget
Native American body paint.
That's quite a bit stronger,
isn't it?
I'm getting it in the roof
of the mouth, and
it's getting under the tongue.
Great cheese.
- And quite different.
Widely apart but very traditional
cheese.
Well, with a tradition like that,
ho wonder the Gloucester cheeses
score a mention in my
Bradshaw's guide.
Yep.
- Good.
Tearing myself away from this
bucolic scene,
I return to Gloucester to
pay my respects at the
Cathedral Church of St Peter
and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity.
This Norman masterpiece,
with its 225-foot-high tower,
dominates its surroundings.
King Edward ll is buried here.
The architectural marvels don't
stop at the city gates.
Close by is the elegant country
house of two eminent Victorians,
a father and son whose combined
artistic talents
left a lasting impression on the
landscape
and Britain's national identity.
Bradshaw's tells me that in the
environs of Gloucester
is Highnam Court,
seat of Thomas Gambier-Parry Esq,
and he built this, the parish church
at Highnam.
He also had a son, Hubert,
a most brilliant musician
and for those two legacies,
may Thomas's name be hymned.
[CHURCH ORGAN PLAYING]
Thomas's son, Hubert, was a hugely
influential composer
whose large body of work includes
the anthem I Was Glad and Jerusalem.
Waiting inside the church to tell me more
about both Parrys is author
Anthony Bowden.
Anthony, hello.
- Michael.
Hello.
I'm dying to talk to you
about Hubert Parry, the composer,
but just before that,
Thomas Parry, his father.
Why did he create this church?
Well, this was built because he and
his Wife had five children,
three of Whom had died
in childbirth,
so they planned to have a church on
this site.
He and Isabella determined to call
this church the Holy Innocents,
and then when Hubert was
born in 1848,
his Wife was in the last throes of
tuberculosis.
She had her baby, Hubert, and 12
days later she died.
So it was a broken-hearted Thomas
who determined that he would now
build this church.
It took Thomas three years to build
What the poet, John Betjeman,
described as the most complete
Victorian Gothic church in England.
A bust of Isabella was
placed in it by her widower
on the night before it was
consecrated in 1851.
What was Parry's
personal contribution
to the decoration of the church?
Well, the most obvious one is here,
over the chancel arch.
He also painted this frieze
along the side of the church.
And the characters shown processing
are real people from the village
and around and about.
And he would ask people to come in
and just sit for him and he would
sketch them and then they got worked
into that rather delightful frieze.
In the end,
the son outshone the father.
Hubert Parry's music provides the
soundtrack to many great British
state occasions,
from coronations to Weddings.
Where does Hubert Parry's
greatness lie, in your view?
Probably in passing on his precepts
and his knowledge,
and his style to a generation
of composers
that he taught at
the Royal College of Music.
Edward Elgar, who was a young man
and totally unknown in the country
as a composer,
took himself down
from Worcestershire
to attend a concert of Parry's.
Elgar was completely blown away
by What he had heard in Parry.
So Parry was the pathfinder
and Elgar followed.
Elgar made great use of trains.
Did Parry, too?
Yes, he did.
Speed, in all its forms,
he loved.
Motoring, yachting
and express trains.
So much so that he found
it stimulated
his creativity
in a very real Way.
So he'd write music
whilst on the express train.
It's easy to imagine Hubert Parry
steaming through
the English landscape,
reading William Blake's great poem
and being inspired
to write his masterpiece.
And I'm delighted to say
that Jonathan Hope
and the Gloucester Choral Society
are going to treat us to a rendition
of Jerusalem
with the addition of one rather
rusty baritone.
Why is it endured so much?
I mean, I think of the
Women's Institute singing about
their arrows of desire.
I just think it's the perfect, um...
amalgamation of Words and music.
It's an amazing tune that he wrote.
He had a gift for writing
stunning, stunning tunes to sing.
And coupled with Words of probably
one of our greatest poets,
I think it's just stood the test
of time.
And does the choir enjoy singing it?
- CHOIR: Yes!
Why don't we give it a go?
Well, let's. Where do you
Want to go?
Ooh.
- Well...
Nowhere is the real answer.
[THEY LAUGH]
But I Won't get away with that.
I'll go in the middle there.
Go in the middle, yeah.
- Has anyone got the Words?
No!
- No!
[ORGAN STRIKES UP]
[SINGING]
"And did those feet in ancient time
"Walk upon England's mountains green?"
"And was the holy Lamb of God
"On England's
pleasant pastures seen?"
Hubert was approached to write
Jerusalem in 1916,
during the darkest hours of WWI,
when news of heavy British casualties
was reported.
His hymn became a rallying cry
to the whole nation.
"And was Jerusalem builded here
"Among those dark satanic mills?"
As the last notes of Hubert Parry's
great tune
rise up to his father's rafters,
I can't help reflecting on
the richness of the age
that produced them both.
Some traditions, such as Freemasonry,
have mediaeval origins,
but were boosted by the new mobility
supplied to men
intent on self-improvement
by the railways.
The manufacture of needles has
scarcely changed since Bradshaw's day,
and Gloucester cheese is still made
using Victorian presses.
William Blake and Hubert Parry
implied why this vale is so fertile.
The countenance divine shone
upon England's pastures green.
On the next part of my journey,
I take pot luck with
an early snooker cue...
Oh, no. A bit askew.
Hitch a ride with
a farmer of the future...
Just being out in the field getting
wet and muddy is absolutely wrong.
It's highly technical these days.
And hone my conversational
skills at a Victorian tea party.
The cucumber this season
is extremely crisp.
[END THEME]
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 crisscross the country
150 years later, it helps me
to discover the Britain of today.
My journey, that began amongst
the metal-bashers of Birmingham,
continues south-west towards
the desolate moorlands of Devon.
On the way,
I'll be discovering the industries
and traditions that made
this part of the country
the engine room of Britain
as it emerged into the modern age.
My journey continues
south through the Midlands,
following the path
of the River Severn,
past great cathedral cities
to the ancient spas
and ports of the South West,
to end up in one of Britain's
most glorious national parks.
Today's leg begins in mediaeval
Redditch in Worcestershire.
I then move on to the spa town
of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire
before arriving in the county's
capital, Gloucester.
On this journey,
I come eye to eye with a needle...
That one has got four punches in.
Two big ones, two small ones.
They're the eyes of the needle.
Get to grips with
some of Gloucester's finest...
That's a lovely feel, isn't it, being
in contact with that gorgeous cheese.
Glorious Gloucester!
And raise the roof in tribute to
one of Britain's great composers.
[SINGING]
"And did those feet in ancient time"...
"Walk upon England's
mountains green?"
Today, my first stop is Redditch,
which Bradshaw's tells me
is a place, "remarkable for its
extensive needle manufactories."
I'm headed towards the sharp end
of the Industrial Revolution.
In the northeast of Worcestershire,
Redditch supposedly
derives its name from the red clay
of the nearby River Arrow.
It first appears
in the records in 1348
and Went on to flourish
in the Victorian era
before being designated a new town
in 1964
to house the overspilling
population of Birmingham.
But it's Redditch's own boom in
the 19th century that interests me.
And that was all down to
one industry,
not to put too fine a point on it.
I've come to the headquarters of
the English Needle and Tackle Company
to meet David Gibbs,
the man in charge of production.
Hello, David.
- Good morning. How are you?
Nice to see you.
David, tell me how Redditch
would've been
at the very height
of needle manufacture.
At the very height of needle
manufacture we would've been
producing 25-30 million needles
per week,
which was approximately 9% of the
world's productivity at the time.
Now, was it an industry that was
conducted traditionally
in big factories?
People moved into the area, the
needle-makers, around 300 years ago.
And they created What
we call a cottage-style industry.
Each family either concentrated
on hardening or pointing.
And over the years, they joined
forces, amalgamated with others,
and then the big houses
bought them up.
And Where we are in
the 20th century,
you have two or three big houses
controlling the needle trade.
The development of steam power
and advances in machinery
in the mid-19th century allowed the
complete needle-production process
to come under one roof.
This was keenly observed by
no lesser figure than the great
Victorian novelist and social
commentator, Charles Dickens,
who visited a needle factory
in Redditch
and marvelled at the miracle of
dexterity displayed by the Workers.
How does a needle begin?
It always begins with the
raw material.
We purchase wire in various sizes
to suit the needle.
It's carbon steel, so we can
heat-treat it and work with it.
Carbon steel, yet it appears
to be copper-coloured.
There's a very, very small copper
coating on the outside of the wire.
That helps prevent corrosion
and also helps with
the production processes.
It acts as a slight lubricant
as it works through
the stamping device on the combines.
The method of production and much
of the machinery in use today
has changed very little
since the time of my guidebook.
My tour starts at the beginning
as the points are fashioned
out of the steel wire.
This is Vicky.
- Hello, Vicky.
What Vicky's doing is feeding
the Wires through the machine.
There's a rubber feed Wheel
and a rubber saddle
and We've got
a grinding-stone there.
So as the needles are pushed
around by the feed wheel,
they're rolling against the stone
to put the desired point on.
These needles now have
points at both ends.
Yep.
And that's because
they're actually two needles.
There's two needles
made together, yeah.
I notice you don't Wear gloves.
Do you never prick your fingers?
No. Because they're quite long,
they're fine to handle.
What about at the beginning,
when you first started here.
Didn't you prick your fingers?
- No, not really.
I have a feeling I'm going to
do so today.
[THEY LAUGH]
Points made,
the next job is to fashion the eyes.
This is Steve.
- Steve, hello.
Michael.
- This is a combine.
This machine is probably
100 years old.
Is that so?
How long have you been
operating it, Steve?
Three years.
- Not 100, then?
No.
- And What are you doing here?
Right - that one
is stamping the shape of the eyes
at the top of the needle.
Right.
That one has got four punches in.
Two big ones, two small ones.
They're the eyes of the needle.
And, of course, at that point,
you've still got two needles.
Yeah. All that does is put a
little crimp in there, so that...
You can just set them off.
- Bash them off.
Have you got a lot of needles
coming through?
Yeah - about 2,000 an hour.
- 2,000 an hour?
Yep.
- On a 100-year-old machine?
Yep.
- That is extraordinary.
Thank you very much.
- That's all right.
Good luck.
Any rough edges
must now be smoothed off,
so it's all hands to the grindstone.
The thing is to use
the shadow on the stone.
And I'm going to press down
gently with this hand?
Yeah.
- Here goes.
[MACHINE NOISE]
Oh, that's lovely!
Portillo visits Redditch
and sparks fly!
Needle-making put 19th-century
Redditch firmly on the map
and made it a byword
for quality in the furthest reaches
of the British empire.
It's reported
that in the Sudan in 1850,
a packet of Redditch-manufactured
needles was so
highly prized that it could
buy you a Wife.
The fact that they got to Africa
in the first place is largely thanks
to the great innovation
of the age of the railways.
And my next stop is Cheltenham.
You used to be able to travel all
the way there on the Midland Line.
Thank you very much for the ride.
- That's all right.
Good bye.
But that possibility is long gone.
And so I've taken a cab to Ashchurch
to pick up the Great Western service
heading south.
I shall be alighting at Cheltenham,
which apparently is
"elegant and fashionable.
"Most of it is modern
and well built".
And I shall Want to examine
carefully its masonry.
TANNOY: Your next station stop
is Cheltenham Spa.
Cheltenham Spa is your next stop.
There are two reasons why
Cheltenham became one of the premier
health and holiday
resorts of the 18th century.
Its mineral Water springs,
and its position in the lee
of the Cotswolds,
affording a delightfully
mild climate in Winter and summer.
Bradshaw describes the currents
of air which contribute to the
purity and salubrity
of the town.
By the early 19th century,
the resident population
had grown from 3,000 to 35,000
and there was a building boom
to accommodate them
and the hordes of visitors who came
to indulge in leisure and pleasure.
But amongst the stucco-fronted
terraces and crescents,
one building stands out
for its rough-hewn exterior.
Tim.
- Michael.
Welcome to Cheltenham
Masonic Hall.
Do come in.
- Thank you.
The Freemasons' journey from
brotherhood of skilled stoneworkers
to a controversial secret society
took place
over several hundred years.
And during the Victorian era,
Freemasonry gained
powerful adherents.
Very impressive.
Freemasons organise themselves
into groups known as lodges.
And in 1823, Cheltenham became
the first town outside London
to have its own dedicated hall.
Tim, you've Welcomed me
to a beautiful building.
Tell me about it.
Well, Cheltenham was a very
important spa town in Regency times
and lodges did move into Cheltenham.
In those days,
they generally met in hotels.
One lodge decided they Wanted
to build their own lodge building
and they deputed one of their number,
George Underwood, to design it,
and this was built and
completed in 1823.
And how old is Masonry, then?
Well, it springs from
the mediaeval guilds
to the actual operative masons,
the masons
who built cathedrals and castles.
But then, like so many other
guilds, it was taken over
as more of a
social and self-help organisation.
Why, then, are Freemasons
different, say, from
arrow-makers or wheelwrights,
or any of the other guilds?
Where Masonry is different
is that some of the rituals
that all the
guilds used to practise,
evidenced in mummer plays
and things like that,
they took them in-house and
used them
for rituals for self-improvement.
Today, mysterious initiation rituals
and secret memberships can attract
suspicion and conspiracy theories.
But in the Victorian era,
there were no such qualms.
Famous masons of the time included
Lord Kitchener,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and
Sir Daniel Gooch,
Chief Engineer and Chairman
of the Great Western Railway,
who was an active proponent
of Masonry.
Do you think that the railways
made a difference to Freemasonry?
Oh, very much so. The essence
of Freemasonry is visiting.
With the introduction
of the railways,
it became easier
to visit other lodges.
We have an instance
in my own province
about the old
Severn Railway Bridge.
Brethren used to go from one side
to the other and visit one another.
The story is that they always asked
the station master on each side
to join the lodge so they
never missed the last train home.
Every aspect of this building
is weighted with symbolism.
The ancient tools
of the stonemasons' craft,
the square and compasses,
mallets and trowels.
And my first glimpse
of the inner sanctum
is an almost theatrical experience.
Well, Tim,
it's a very impressive room.
Sometimes referred to as a temple?
They were, yes. We tend to call
them meeting rooms now
because of the confusion
with religion.
And Freemasonry is not
a religion.
Now, you say that Freemasonry
is much like guilds,
but you have paraphernalia
which they don't have.
You Wear aprons, there are
so many symbols, stars and suns.
A chequerboard floor.
So there are extra elements
to Freemasonry, aren't there?
There are. It is an organisation
that is primarily, as I said,
a fellowship organisation made up of
men who Want to improve themselves.
And everything else flows from that.
And the instruction for a new Mason
is through a series of
small lectures or rituals.
And, yes, we do lean heavily
on symbolism.
You referred to the chequered
pavement.
That's just the dark and light,
the joys and sorrows
of our existence on this earth.
Which does sound quite religious.
- No, it's life.
[THEY LAUGH]
So, if I came to your most
solemn event in this meeting room,
in this temple,
What might I see performed here?
Firstly, there's always minutes
and there may be accounts,
reports from the secretary
and the like, and then,
if there is a candidate
for Freemasonry,
we'll undertake one of the rituals
that I referred to.
So a meeting may take up
to two hours,
but a meeting essentially
is followed by dinner.
[MICHAEL CHUCKLES]
Which can easily take another two hours.
I'm Wondering
whether George Bradshaw,
who I know was a Quaker,
was also a Freemason?
Well, there's no reason why
he shouldn't have been a Mason
because he was a Quaker,
but in anticipation of your visit,
I asked our library at head office
to check whether he was.
And after a rigorous search,
I'm afraid we cannot claim him
as one of our own.
Much as we'd wish to.
Tim, I've thoroughly enjoyed
the visit. Thank you so much.
With some of the mysteries of
the ancient brotherhood explained,
but still none the wiser
about the secret handshake,
I head off in search of a place
to spend the night.
My Bradshaw's mentions
one particularly fine building,
a sprawling Tudor manor
that overlooks the town
and the fabled
Cheltenham racecourse.
Bradshaw's tells me that this
splendid pile is called Southam,
the seat of Lord Ellenborough.
It's now a hotel. And I shall be
staying here tonight.
I'm feeling rather grand
because it's said that Anne Parr,
the sister-in-law of King Henry VIII,
once laid her head here.
It was still on her shoulders.
Not that I'm claiming parity
with a Parr.
The next day sees the beginning
of the final leg
of this part
of my journey.
It's time to bid farewell
to Cheltenham
and take the train west
to neighbouring Gloucester.
Bradshaw's tells me that
"pleasant hills overlook
the Vale of Gloucester.
"A rich,
loamy tract of 60,000 acres.
"Corn, fruit, beans,
turnips, hay, butter,
"and Double Gloucester cheese,
for which the county is noted".
It seems that,
like Little Miss Muffet,
I'm going to be dealing with
curds and whey.
It's only a short hop,
so it's soon time to quit my tuffet
and alight at the station.
Gloucester lies on the River Severn,
35 miles from the mouth
of the Bristol Channel.
At the time of my guidebook,
it was a thriving port,
the most inland in the country,
situated on the Gloucester and
Sharpness Canal, which opened in 1827
as the Widest and deepest
in England.
It was big enough for seagoing ships
to transfer from the river
to the canal.
When the railways arrived
in the 1840s,
they added to
Gloucester's importance
and helped to distribute
the town's home-grown products.
Bradshaw's talks about
Double Gloucester cheese,
but there's another lesser-known
variety called Single Gloucester,
which has also been made
for over 300 years.
To get a taste
of What sets them apart,
I've come to a dairy farm
outside the city to meet Rod Smart.
Hello, Rod.
- Hello, Michael.
Nice to meet you.
- Very good to see you.
And I find you at your
cheese-making.
Can I give you a hand with that,
by the way?
- Of course.
What We're doing, We're
trying to keep the curd moving.
Was this this morning's milk?
Well, we started at six o'clock this
morning with milk which was
milked from our cows last night
because I don't fancy getting
up before that to milk the cows.
What is the difference between
Single and Double Gloucester, Rod?
Single Gloucester cheese was
usually a cheese which was
made on the farm for the locality.
It was for the workers and
for the local people.
It's a younger, smoother cheese
and nowadays it has a PDO on it.
It's protected because there's only
a few people in Gloucestershire
who make it.
Double Gloucester was the cheese
that we sold off the farm.
Traditionally, it would have been
sent to the cities.
It was a good, strong, robust
cheese.
By train, I hope, Rod.
Oh, undoubtedly.
These 800 litres of milk will
eventually become
about 80kg of cheese.
Rod uses the old methods
handed down through
the generations of Gloucester
cheese-makers.
The separated curds are gathered
into moulds,
which are then put into a cheese
press to extract moisture.
So, here are some cheeses that
were made on Tuesday.
These are Victorian presses.
- Really?
Do you have any idea What
sort of weight
they might have put on the cheese?
Uh, 40lbs?
They were designed to put on up
to 20 hundredweight onto the cheese.
Now, if you unscrew that.
It's most definitely handcrafted
cheese, isn't it?
The next stage is to
unwrap and turn
Rod's latest batch of
Single Gloucesters before they are
returned to the press to smooth any
wrinkles left by the cloth.
Ooh, do you know, that's
awfully satisfying?
Yes.
- That's a lovely feel, isn't it?
Being in contact with that
gorgeous cheese.
Glorious Gloucester!
You wind it down until this lever
goes up to just above horizontal.
The cheeses are then
taken into the cold storage,
Where they are left to grow a rind
While the flavour matures.
Double Gloucester for around four
months, and the Single for two.
The moment of truth.
- Yes, indeed.
The pale one is the Single
Gloucester cheese, so
that's the best one
to start with.
Mm.
Lovely and mild and soft
and creamy.
And I think, at the end of it, you
should get little bit of a zing.
Pow! I just got it.
Really good.
What makes Double Gloucester
that colour?
We use annatto.
What's that?
- Annatto.
It's a colouring, comes from a South
American bean or seed.
It was originally the dye that the
South American Indians used,
the red body paints.
It was brought back.
Probably came into Bristol.
It was used in cheeses and
other foodstuffs
to make it look more appealing.
I'm trying to forget
Native American body paint.
That's quite a bit stronger,
isn't it?
I'm getting it in the roof
of the mouth, and
it's getting under the tongue.
Great cheese.
- And quite different.
Widely apart but very traditional
cheese.
Well, with a tradition like that,
ho wonder the Gloucester cheeses
score a mention in my
Bradshaw's guide.
Yep.
- Good.
Tearing myself away from this
bucolic scene,
I return to Gloucester to
pay my respects at the
Cathedral Church of St Peter
and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity.
This Norman masterpiece,
with its 225-foot-high tower,
dominates its surroundings.
King Edward ll is buried here.
The architectural marvels don't
stop at the city gates.
Close by is the elegant country
house of two eminent Victorians,
a father and son whose combined
artistic talents
left a lasting impression on the
landscape
and Britain's national identity.
Bradshaw's tells me that in the
environs of Gloucester
is Highnam Court,
seat of Thomas Gambier-Parry Esq,
and he built this, the parish church
at Highnam.
He also had a son, Hubert,
a most brilliant musician
and for those two legacies,
may Thomas's name be hymned.
[CHURCH ORGAN PLAYING]
Thomas's son, Hubert, was a hugely
influential composer
whose large body of work includes
the anthem I Was Glad and Jerusalem.
Waiting inside the church to tell me more
about both Parrys is author
Anthony Bowden.
Anthony, hello.
- Michael.
Hello.
I'm dying to talk to you
about Hubert Parry, the composer,
but just before that,
Thomas Parry, his father.
Why did he create this church?
Well, this was built because he and
his Wife had five children,
three of Whom had died
in childbirth,
so they planned to have a church on
this site.
He and Isabella determined to call
this church the Holy Innocents,
and then when Hubert was
born in 1848,
his Wife was in the last throes of
tuberculosis.
She had her baby, Hubert, and 12
days later she died.
So it was a broken-hearted Thomas
who determined that he would now
build this church.
It took Thomas three years to build
What the poet, John Betjeman,
described as the most complete
Victorian Gothic church in England.
A bust of Isabella was
placed in it by her widower
on the night before it was
consecrated in 1851.
What was Parry's
personal contribution
to the decoration of the church?
Well, the most obvious one is here,
over the chancel arch.
He also painted this frieze
along the side of the church.
And the characters shown processing
are real people from the village
and around and about.
And he would ask people to come in
and just sit for him and he would
sketch them and then they got worked
into that rather delightful frieze.
In the end,
the son outshone the father.
Hubert Parry's music provides the
soundtrack to many great British
state occasions,
from coronations to Weddings.
Where does Hubert Parry's
greatness lie, in your view?
Probably in passing on his precepts
and his knowledge,
and his style to a generation
of composers
that he taught at
the Royal College of Music.
Edward Elgar, who was a young man
and totally unknown in the country
as a composer,
took himself down
from Worcestershire
to attend a concert of Parry's.
Elgar was completely blown away
by What he had heard in Parry.
So Parry was the pathfinder
and Elgar followed.
Elgar made great use of trains.
Did Parry, too?
Yes, he did.
Speed, in all its forms,
he loved.
Motoring, yachting
and express trains.
So much so that he found
it stimulated
his creativity
in a very real Way.
So he'd write music
whilst on the express train.
It's easy to imagine Hubert Parry
steaming through
the English landscape,
reading William Blake's great poem
and being inspired
to write his masterpiece.
And I'm delighted to say
that Jonathan Hope
and the Gloucester Choral Society
are going to treat us to a rendition
of Jerusalem
with the addition of one rather
rusty baritone.
Why is it endured so much?
I mean, I think of the
Women's Institute singing about
their arrows of desire.
I just think it's the perfect, um...
amalgamation of Words and music.
It's an amazing tune that he wrote.
He had a gift for writing
stunning, stunning tunes to sing.
And coupled with Words of probably
one of our greatest poets,
I think it's just stood the test
of time.
And does the choir enjoy singing it?
- CHOIR: Yes!
Why don't we give it a go?
Well, let's. Where do you
Want to go?
Ooh.
- Well...
Nowhere is the real answer.
[THEY LAUGH]
But I Won't get away with that.
I'll go in the middle there.
Go in the middle, yeah.
- Has anyone got the Words?
No!
- No!
[ORGAN STRIKES UP]
[SINGING]
"And did those feet in ancient time
"Walk upon England's mountains green?"
"And was the holy Lamb of God
"On England's
pleasant pastures seen?"
Hubert was approached to write
Jerusalem in 1916,
during the darkest hours of WWI,
when news of heavy British casualties
was reported.
His hymn became a rallying cry
to the whole nation.
"And was Jerusalem builded here
"Among those dark satanic mills?"
As the last notes of Hubert Parry's
great tune
rise up to his father's rafters,
I can't help reflecting on
the richness of the age
that produced them both.
Some traditions, such as Freemasonry,
have mediaeval origins,
but were boosted by the new mobility
supplied to men
intent on self-improvement
by the railways.
The manufacture of needles has
scarcely changed since Bradshaw's day,
and Gloucester cheese is still made
using Victorian presses.
William Blake and Hubert Parry
implied why this vale is so fertile.
The countenance divine shone
upon England's pastures green.
On the next part of my journey,
I take pot luck with
an early snooker cue...
Oh, no. A bit askew.
Hitch a ride with
a farmer of the future...
Just being out in the field getting
wet and muddy is absolutely wrong.
It's highly technical these days.
And hone my conversational
skills at a Victorian tea party.
The cucumber this season
is extremely crisp.
[END THEME]