Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 7, Episode 15 - Bridgewater to Dartmouth - 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.
On this final leg of my journey
from England's heartlands to
moorlands, I'll be discovering
how the Victorian age marked
a change in our attitude to nature,
reflected in many things,
from ambitious engineering projects
to romantic poetry.
My route, which began in Birmingham,
now arrives in south-west England,
Where I'll be visiting
ancient farmlands
and battlegrounds, before ending
up on the wild
uplands of one of Britain's most
glorious national parks.
Today, I'm starting out in romantic
Bridgwater in Somerset, then on
to historic Taunton, before arriving
at my final destination, Dartmoor.
On this leg of the journey,
I get to grips with
a miracle of Victorian engineering...
I've never felt so much power.
[ANGRY SHOUTING]
Stand trial in Taunton and suffer
the full weight of the law...
I plead guilty and throw myself upon
the mercy of this court.
And go looking for hidden
treasure on Dartmoor.
- I've found it!
- Hooray!
[SHE LAUGHS]
I'm now approaching the end of my
journey, and the town of Bridgwater.
Bradshaw's tells me that
at Nether Stowey, Coleridge lived
from 1796 to 1798 after marrying, and
here he wrote The Ancient Mariner.
Wordsworth was his neighbour,
and composed his lyrical ballads,
the subject of many
interminable discussions,
as the friends walked over
the hills together.
I'm headed
for Somerset's Little Poets Corner.
Lying at the edge
of the Somerset Levels,
the ancient inland port of Bridgwater
is seven miles from the sea,
and has been an important trading
centre since Saxon times.
The railway arrived here in 1841,
and the station,
designed by Brunei, is the perfect
jumping-off point for my visit.
In nearby Nether Stowey is
a small cottage
once lived in by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
who wrote some of his most famous
work here, including Kubla Khan.
I hope to discover more about the
poet's life in the village
from Coleridge expert Tina Mitchell.
- Hello, Tina.
- Hello, Michael!
Tina, What was it that brought the
Samuel Taylor Coleridge family
to this cottage?
They were looking to escape
their debts, and they met up with
a friend, a local man of
substance, Tom Poole.
This was the only cottage at the
time that he could find for them,
and he described it as
"a bit of a hovel".
I mean, nowadays, it looks very nice
indeed, a lovely village
and a lovely cottage. You're telling
me it was something different then?
When they moved in, you have to
imagine a much smaller cottage.
It was thatched, there was ah open
sewer running past the front door,
so the stench in summer would've
been something unimaginable.
Was it a coincidence that the
Wordsworths were neighbours
- staying close by?
- No, it Wasn't.
They'd met previously While walking
and a friendship began which was to
last a very, very long time.
So, the Wordsworths actively looked
to move here to be near to
Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Coleridge and the Wordsworths
Went on almost daily walks
together in the nearby
Quantock Hills.
But his long-suffering Wife Sarah
stayed behind, to try to make
the best of their new home.
Tina, What were
conditions like for them?
You have to imagine that the
cottage then,
when they moved in, was very dark,
it was damp, it was very draughty.
It was overrun with mice.
How did Coleridge's Wife Sarah
feel about that?
Obviously, her priority was to
her child, Hartley.
She Wanted to get the cottage
as cosy as possible
as fast as possible,
and as warm as she could.
Was this a period of strain
for the marriage, do you think?
Originally, no.
They were very much in love
when they moved into the cottage.
Unfortunately, when Samuel Taylor
Coleridge was in Germany
for a long period, Berkeley, their
second child,
became very ill While he was away
and died in the February.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge didn't come
back until the July,
so obviously, this put a great
strain on the marriage
and was the beginning
of the end of the marriage.
Nowadays, it's generally accepted
that Coleridge was probably
suffering from manic depression,
which over the years was
exacerbated by his opium addiction.
But when he moved to Nether Stowey,
he was still a young idealist,
seeking the simple life
for his family, surrounded by nature.
Tina, the garden looks very
beautiful.
Was it like this in Coleridge's day?
When they moved in, it was twice
the size of What you see today.
His idea was to live
a life of self-sufficiency.
Unfortunately, he was slowly taken
away to other areas,
such as writing his poetry
and talking long into the night,
and the garden unfortunately
suffered
and ended up as more of a wild
garden than a vegetable garden.
So if the garden was abandoned,
that, at least, implies that this was
a period when he was Writing.
It was while he was here that he
was most prolific.
It was the birthplace
of the Romantic literary movement
and while he was here,
in those short three years,
he wrote Kubla Khan, The Rime Of
The Ancient Mariner
and he wrote This Lime-Tree Bower
My Prison.
This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison,
was inspired not so much by nature,
but by his sorrow at missing
out on it.
Coleridge was about to set off on yet
another Walk with his cronies,
when his wife,
presumably now heartily fed up,
spilt a pan of boiling milk
over his foot.
He retired to the said lime-tree
bower in pain, to vent his angst.
Let's have a read of that
famous sulk.
"Well, they are gone,
and here must I remain,
"This lime-tree bower my prison!
I have lost
"Beauties and feelings,
such as would have been
"Most sweet to my remembrance even
when age
"Had dimm'd mine eyes to blindness!
They, meanwhile,
"Friends, Whom I may never more
meet again,
"On Springy heath,
along the hill-top edge,
"Wander in gladness..."
Oh. You've got to feel sorry for him,
haven't you?
Stuck here on his own.
Bradshaw's comments that,
"Somerset possesses every gradation,
"from the lofty mountain
and barren moor, to the rich
"and cultivated vale
"and then descends to the
unimprovable marsh and fens."
But that was to underestimate
Victorian ingenuity.
The low-lying land could be improved
and made suitable for agriculture.
And these newly raised
banks of the River Parrett,
are intended to protect these
fields from flooding.
Man has been battling nature
for control of the Somerset levels
since Roman times.
This 160,000 acres of coastal plain
drains naturally into two rivers,
the Tone and the Parrett.
But the majority of the land
lies below sea level,
so a combination of tidal surges
and heavy rains,
such as We've seen in recent years,
can have catastrophic consequences.
Until the Victorian age,
when floods came, residents
and farmers could only watch
and Wait for the Water to subside.
But in 1830,
an act of parliament ordered
the construction of a steam-powered
pumping station at Westonzoyland,
to eject water from flooded land
back into the river.
Hello!
Are you going towards
the Victorian pumping station?
- Yes, please jump on.
- Thank you.
I'm hitching a ride on one
of the original log-carrying
locomotives that would have kept
the boiler supplied with fuel.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
In Victorian times,
the station attendant,
who operated the pump,
would live here.
Hello, Michael, Welcome to
Westonzoyland Pumping Station.
I'm looking forward to this.
Nowadays, this remarkable
machine is kept in working
order by enthusiasts, including
Alan Davies and John Trenchard.
- This is a Victorian engine?
- It is indeed, Michael.
It was built in 1861,
developed by John George Appold.
And he demonstrated it in 1851,
at the Great Exhibition.
Was this Victorian engine pretty
effective as a pump?
It was very effective.
In fact, at the International
Exhibition, of 1862,
one of these was set up with
a tank of water.
It could pump 100 tonnes
of Water a minute.
That is about an inch of water
off an acre of land every minute,
- which is quite phenomenal.
- Absolutely phenomenal.
By the end of the Victorian era,
there were eight pumping stations
on the Somerset Levels.
This is the only one still
operational,
although it's not part of the
drainage system any more.
I've never felt so much power.
In 2014, after some of the worst
January rains on record,
25 square miles of the Somerset
Levels were left underwater.
There followed the largest mobile
pumping operation ever
undertaken in Europe.
With 120 pumps working around the
clock, capable of moving 8.5 million
tonnes of water a day, enough to fill
Wembley Stadium seven times over.
Carymoor station was
one of those on the front-line
and I'm heading there now to
meet Tim Musgrove,
of the Environment Agency,
to hear how they coped.
- Tim.
- Hello, Michael.
I've just come from seeing
a Victorian steam engine.
Yes.
Which, though Working,
is not moving Water around any more,
- but these are.
- Yes.
These two do, and do
most Winters.
- What is their job?
- Their job is to get the Water
from the moor
and push it out into the river.
These engines themselves
look quite elderly.
Yes, they're 1954, they Went in
and they're just clocking up
with 750,000 hours Without any
breakdowns.
What is the capacity?
How much water can they pump?
They're pumping just
over 2,200 litres a second, each.
You had, in Somerset,
devastating floods in 2014.
What was that like for you?
It was a busy time, I can't deny it.
In here it was all
flooded for two months.
Were the engines damaged?
No, no, the engines don't get
any Water on them,
they are built too high
out of the water.
Could I actually see
the engine running?
Yes, We're just doing
a maintenance run,
so we can start them up,
run and pump some water.
Success!
Can we see What it's doing?
Did I really do that?
So that's, what, about two
tonnes of water a second?
- Yes.
- And this is, which river now?
This is the River Tone
and it flows clown and out
to the River Parrett
and then into the Bristol Channel.
- And then safely into the sea.
- Yes.
I'm returning to Bridgwater Station,
to catch the Great Western service,
heading south.
I shall spend the last night
of this journey in Taunton.
Bradshaw says,
"The town, as seen from the station,
"has a most pleasing appearance.
"It's situated in the central part of
the luxuriant Vale of Taunton Deane."
And it mentions the Castle Hotel,
but, for once,
I've no need for my Bradshaw's.
It's a place I know well.
My guidebook gives fulsome praise to
this ancient borough town,
but before I explore pans unknown,
I'm going to relax
and enjoy
myself in familiar surroundings.
Thank you, that looks lovely.
Thank you.
I know this hotel well,
'cos I've often spent weekends here
listening to classical music.
But, tomorrow,
I must look into Taunton's history
and something altogether more
discordant.
The next day, I'm up early and out
to soak up the atmosphere
of this historic town.
The name Taunton means,
"Town on the River Tone"
and there's been a settlement here
since the Bronze Age.
It grew to be prosperous
in the Middle Ages,
thanks to the wool trade.
But my focus is on the end of the
17th century.
The English Civil War was over,
but, once again,
the monarchy was under threat.
Bradshaw's tells me that,
here in Taunton,
"The ill-fated Duke of Monmouth
proclaimed himself King, in 1685."
He'd risen in rebellion, against the
new monarch, James ll,
who, unlike his predecessor,
was a Catholic.
There followed a mighty clash of arms
and the last battle to be
fought on English soil.
The Duke of Monmouth was
an illegitimate son
of King Charles ll, living
in self-imposed exile in Holland.
In February 1685, he landed in Dorset
with 82 men and rode to Taunton,
Where the Protestant-leaning
citizens Welcomed him.
Something they would come to regret.
I'm heading to St Mary's
Church in Chedzoy,
ten miles north of Taunton,
to hear about the decisive
Battle of Sedgemoor, from the head
of Somerset Museum, Steve Minute.
Hello, Steve. Beautiful church.
It is, one of the many fantastic
ones in Somerset.
Chedzoy Church has 13th century
origins and a tower 70ft high,
which gives a commanding
view of the surrounding countryside.
Why have we come to the roof of the
tower of beautiful Chedzoy Church?
Well, there was one small incident
that occurred immediately before the
Battle of Sedgemoor,
which had a huge impact
on the events at that time.
On the morning of 5th July 1685,
a local man, by the name of
William Spark, he was a farmer,
came up here with his spyglass.
He looked out from Where we are now,
across to Westonzoyland,
Where the Royal army was camped
and saw that they weren't
particularly well-protected.
And, as a consequence of that,
Monmouth changed his plans.
And on the night of 5th July,
he set out,
in view of a surprise
attack on the Royal army.
What was the result of the attack?
It was an utter disaster,
sadly, for the Duke of Monmouth
and his followers.
The night was very misty,
they couldn't find
crossings of some of the ditches
and then a pistol was fired.
Almost certainly
one of the Royal Cavalry
had spotted something happening.
The rebels panicked
and hundreds of people were killed.
There followed an infamous period in
British history.
The fleeing rebels,
and anyone thought to
have sympathised with them,
were rounded up and put on trial at
What became known as
the Bloody Assizes.
"After the defeat at
Sedgemoor, King James' Chief Justice,
"Jeffreys,
the worthy tool of such a monster,
"held his Bloody Assizes,
at Taunton." Just here.
"Hundreds of poor wretches were
condemned to death,
"after being persuaded to throw
themselves on the King's mercy.
"The executioner hanged one
man three times."
I just can't imagine What it would've
been like to be one of the accused.
Bring on John Hucker.
- Traitor! Traitor!
- Hang him! Traitor!
Silence!
John Hucker,
you stand accused of high treason,
by lately being in armed
rebellion against your lawful King.
I am obliged by law to give you the
right to plead guilty or not guilty.
However, I will extend leniency,
Where possible,
to those who plead guilty.
I have a muster roll here,
from the Duke of Monmouth's army,
with your name on it,
as a Captain of Horse.
I also have diverse, loyal witnesses
who will swear they saw you with the Duke,
and indeed followed him all the Way
to the battle at Sedgemoor.
That being so, how do you plead?
In view of your Words, my Lord,
I plead guilty
and throw myself upon
the mercy of this court.
"Guilty", eh?
Regrettably, the depth of your crime
is such that mercy has flown.
So, John Hucker, I find you
guilty of high treason
against your lawful King.
Do you have anything to
say before I pass sentence?
- He's a traitor! Traitor!
- Liar! String him up! Traitor!
Silence!
I stand before my God,
as a man of conscience.
I could not remain idle and see
England led back to popery.
And, for that, I shall die.
Indeed you will.
John Hucker, one time
captain of rebel horse, your lands,
properties and monies will be
forfeit to the Crown.
I sentence you to a traitor's death.
You will be hanged by the neck,
out down whilst still alive and then
drawn and quartered.
May God have mercy on your soul.
Captain, take him away.
In all, 144 men and Women were
condemned to death at the Assizes.
I'll have a black tea, please.
Luckily, for us actors, it's a
refreshing cup of tea,
not the gallows that beckons.
I must say, you were a very fearsome
crowd, you really Were. You!
- Me?!
- You, screaming at me.
Thank you all very much indeed.
Um, I've got a train to catch,
so, er...
I can't hang around.
[LAUGHTER]
Divesting myself of 17th century
garb, I return to Taunton Station
for the final leg of this 200 mile
railway adventure.
The last station on my journey
will be Exeter St David's.
Bradshaw says that, "Dartmoor and the
waste called Dartmoor Forest
occupy "the greater portion of the western
district of Devonshire, which
"extends from the Vale of Exeter
to the banks of the River Tamar."
What a lovely, vast area, in which to
play a massive game of hide and seek.
Dartmoor and Dartmoor Forest
cover about 365 square
miles of rugged upland
and wooded valleys.
Interspersed with craggy
granite outcrops, known as tors.
It was officially designated
a national park in 1951,
but the Dartmoor Preservation Society
was established back in 1883.
And it was popular with Victorian
Walkers and nature lovers.
News has reached my ears
of a Dartmoor tradition,
called letterboxing,
which has enthusiasts
descending from all over the country
to scour the landscape.
To find out how it all started
and What they're looking for,
I'm heading up onto the moor to meet
keen letterboxer, Pat Reed.
- Hello, Pat.
- Hello, Michael, Welcome to Shilstone Tor.
Thank you very much.
Well, it's a remote spot,
but I've been sent here to find
out about letterboxing.
What is it, when did it begin?
It began in 1854, it was started
by a man called James Perrot,
who put the first letterbox
in a place called Cranmere Pool,
in a rather remote part of Dartmoor.
He left it there,
he had his visiting card,
he left that behind in it as well.
And then people used to go and
put their own visiting cards
in, to show that they'd actually
transversed that really difficult
part of the moor.
It was a challenge,
but even the ladies,
in their long dresses, managed it.
And that must've been quite
something, I think.
How do you get your clues?
Well, in October and March, on the
days when the clock goes forward
and the clock goes back, we have
What is called, a "letterboxer's meet".
At that meet you can buy
a catalogue.
Which is What I'm
holding in my hand how,
and this tells you
Where all the boxes are.
"Black Spots, no.66, Shilstone Tor.
"White chimney 086 degrees,
a backward L-shaped,
"small holly in boulder very close."
This is written in gobbledegook.
Well, I will help you. Tell me
What the bearing is on the tor.
172 degrees.
So there is the compass,
so you need to move this dial around
until 172 is there.
Keep it in your hand.
You have to go Where the arrow is
telling you to go.
Pat, you've given me
a little clue, I think
- I'm meant to go in that direction.
- I think you'd better!
Having been nudged
gently in the right direction,
I now must keep my eyes
open for landmarks.
When we set out,
I couldn't see any white chimney,
but, I must say, that white
chimney, actually,
- is very obvious.
- It is very obvious.
Pat, I can see the tree,
so I'm putting that now to 335.
- Do you know, I'm getting quite...
- You're getting very good at it.
Well, I don't know about that,
but I'm getting into it.
- Getting the hang of it.
- And enjoying it.
Could you remind me,
What are we looking for?
Yes, We're looking for an L-shaped
rock, with a small holly growing in it.
- Right.
- So we have to climb, I think.
- A little bit.
- Let's climb. Here we go.
20 minutes later, after a lot
of bracken bashing, we strike lucky.
- I've found it!
- Hooray!
[SHE LAUGHS]
A backward, L-shaped rock!
But finding the rock was not
the point, was it, Pat?
It was to find the box.
Exactly, but the clue tells you
that it's under the rock,
so you've got to look and see.
- There we have it.
- Ah-ha!
[WHISPERING]
The moment I've been Waiting for.
[GASPS]
ls it money?
No.
[MICHAEL LAUGHS]
No such luck.
- Oh.
- That's the visitors' book.
And a stamp...
of a dog, by the look of it.
What happens next?
Every letterboxer carries an ink pad
and a book and a stamp.
Here is your special Great British
Railway letterboxing stamp.
Ah, thank you.
Until the 1970s,
there were no more than a dozen
letterboxes around Dartmoor.
But in the last 40 years, it's become so
popular that there are said to be
over 5,000, and definitely room
for one more.
Pat, do you think
I might create my own letterbox?
I think that would be a Wonderful
idea and I know just the spot
Where you could do just that thing.
Pat, What a Wizard spot.
That is wonderful.
Absolutely perfect,
it'll take your box.
Put my stamp inside, seal the box.
- Into the hole.
- Yes.
How will people find the
Great British Railway Journeys box?
The clue for this box will
appear in the next edition
of the Catalogue
of Dartmoor Letterboxers.
- They'll have to buy the book.
- They will indeed.
The Victorians were remarkably
inventive in every sphere.
From industry, to the arts,
to how they spent their leisure time.
It was an age of change and progress,
powered by the railways.
My rail journey that
began in urban Birmingham has
ended on desolate Dartmoor,
passing Jerusalem on the Way.
It started with a whistle and,
I feared, would end with a hanging.
Once again, my Bradshaw's has
brought our island history
dramatically to life,
with all its triumphs,
tragedies and treacheries.
Every time I step on a train,
a new treasure hunt begins.
Next time...
Urgh!
That is a Princess Alexandra
style false fringe.
Real human hair from the 1880s.
- Sounding better.
- That's pretty impressive for a
- first attempt.
- Got it in one!
1,500 townspeople threatened that if
Mortimer was brought out to them,
they would hang him.
I imagine you Sackvilles have been
fairly cautious about
public opinion ever since.
Extremely!
[END THEME]
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.
On this final leg of my journey
from England's heartlands to
moorlands, I'll be discovering
how the Victorian age marked
a change in our attitude to nature,
reflected in many things,
from ambitious engineering projects
to romantic poetry.
My route, which began in Birmingham,
now arrives in south-west England,
Where I'll be visiting
ancient farmlands
and battlegrounds, before ending
up on the wild
uplands of one of Britain's most
glorious national parks.
Today, I'm starting out in romantic
Bridgwater in Somerset, then on
to historic Taunton, before arriving
at my final destination, Dartmoor.
On this leg of the journey,
I get to grips with
a miracle of Victorian engineering...
I've never felt so much power.
[ANGRY SHOUTING]
Stand trial in Taunton and suffer
the full weight of the law...
I plead guilty and throw myself upon
the mercy of this court.
And go looking for hidden
treasure on Dartmoor.
- I've found it!
- Hooray!
[SHE LAUGHS]
I'm now approaching the end of my
journey, and the town of Bridgwater.
Bradshaw's tells me that
at Nether Stowey, Coleridge lived
from 1796 to 1798 after marrying, and
here he wrote The Ancient Mariner.
Wordsworth was his neighbour,
and composed his lyrical ballads,
the subject of many
interminable discussions,
as the friends walked over
the hills together.
I'm headed
for Somerset's Little Poets Corner.
Lying at the edge
of the Somerset Levels,
the ancient inland port of Bridgwater
is seven miles from the sea,
and has been an important trading
centre since Saxon times.
The railway arrived here in 1841,
and the station,
designed by Brunei, is the perfect
jumping-off point for my visit.
In nearby Nether Stowey is
a small cottage
once lived in by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
who wrote some of his most famous
work here, including Kubla Khan.
I hope to discover more about the
poet's life in the village
from Coleridge expert Tina Mitchell.
- Hello, Tina.
- Hello, Michael!
Tina, What was it that brought the
Samuel Taylor Coleridge family
to this cottage?
They were looking to escape
their debts, and they met up with
a friend, a local man of
substance, Tom Poole.
This was the only cottage at the
time that he could find for them,
and he described it as
"a bit of a hovel".
I mean, nowadays, it looks very nice
indeed, a lovely village
and a lovely cottage. You're telling
me it was something different then?
When they moved in, you have to
imagine a much smaller cottage.
It was thatched, there was ah open
sewer running past the front door,
so the stench in summer would've
been something unimaginable.
Was it a coincidence that the
Wordsworths were neighbours
- staying close by?
- No, it Wasn't.
They'd met previously While walking
and a friendship began which was to
last a very, very long time.
So, the Wordsworths actively looked
to move here to be near to
Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Coleridge and the Wordsworths
Went on almost daily walks
together in the nearby
Quantock Hills.
But his long-suffering Wife Sarah
stayed behind, to try to make
the best of their new home.
Tina, What were
conditions like for them?
You have to imagine that the
cottage then,
when they moved in, was very dark,
it was damp, it was very draughty.
It was overrun with mice.
How did Coleridge's Wife Sarah
feel about that?
Obviously, her priority was to
her child, Hartley.
She Wanted to get the cottage
as cosy as possible
as fast as possible,
and as warm as she could.
Was this a period of strain
for the marriage, do you think?
Originally, no.
They were very much in love
when they moved into the cottage.
Unfortunately, when Samuel Taylor
Coleridge was in Germany
for a long period, Berkeley, their
second child,
became very ill While he was away
and died in the February.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge didn't come
back until the July,
so obviously, this put a great
strain on the marriage
and was the beginning
of the end of the marriage.
Nowadays, it's generally accepted
that Coleridge was probably
suffering from manic depression,
which over the years was
exacerbated by his opium addiction.
But when he moved to Nether Stowey,
he was still a young idealist,
seeking the simple life
for his family, surrounded by nature.
Tina, the garden looks very
beautiful.
Was it like this in Coleridge's day?
When they moved in, it was twice
the size of What you see today.
His idea was to live
a life of self-sufficiency.
Unfortunately, he was slowly taken
away to other areas,
such as writing his poetry
and talking long into the night,
and the garden unfortunately
suffered
and ended up as more of a wild
garden than a vegetable garden.
So if the garden was abandoned,
that, at least, implies that this was
a period when he was Writing.
It was while he was here that he
was most prolific.
It was the birthplace
of the Romantic literary movement
and while he was here,
in those short three years,
he wrote Kubla Khan, The Rime Of
The Ancient Mariner
and he wrote This Lime-Tree Bower
My Prison.
This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison,
was inspired not so much by nature,
but by his sorrow at missing
out on it.
Coleridge was about to set off on yet
another Walk with his cronies,
when his wife,
presumably now heartily fed up,
spilt a pan of boiling milk
over his foot.
He retired to the said lime-tree
bower in pain, to vent his angst.
Let's have a read of that
famous sulk.
"Well, they are gone,
and here must I remain,
"This lime-tree bower my prison!
I have lost
"Beauties and feelings,
such as would have been
"Most sweet to my remembrance even
when age
"Had dimm'd mine eyes to blindness!
They, meanwhile,
"Friends, Whom I may never more
meet again,
"On Springy heath,
along the hill-top edge,
"Wander in gladness..."
Oh. You've got to feel sorry for him,
haven't you?
Stuck here on his own.
Bradshaw's comments that,
"Somerset possesses every gradation,
"from the lofty mountain
and barren moor, to the rich
"and cultivated vale
"and then descends to the
unimprovable marsh and fens."
But that was to underestimate
Victorian ingenuity.
The low-lying land could be improved
and made suitable for agriculture.
And these newly raised
banks of the River Parrett,
are intended to protect these
fields from flooding.
Man has been battling nature
for control of the Somerset levels
since Roman times.
This 160,000 acres of coastal plain
drains naturally into two rivers,
the Tone and the Parrett.
But the majority of the land
lies below sea level,
so a combination of tidal surges
and heavy rains,
such as We've seen in recent years,
can have catastrophic consequences.
Until the Victorian age,
when floods came, residents
and farmers could only watch
and Wait for the Water to subside.
But in 1830,
an act of parliament ordered
the construction of a steam-powered
pumping station at Westonzoyland,
to eject water from flooded land
back into the river.
Hello!
Are you going towards
the Victorian pumping station?
- Yes, please jump on.
- Thank you.
I'm hitching a ride on one
of the original log-carrying
locomotives that would have kept
the boiler supplied with fuel.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
In Victorian times,
the station attendant,
who operated the pump,
would live here.
Hello, Michael, Welcome to
Westonzoyland Pumping Station.
I'm looking forward to this.
Nowadays, this remarkable
machine is kept in working
order by enthusiasts, including
Alan Davies and John Trenchard.
- This is a Victorian engine?
- It is indeed, Michael.
It was built in 1861,
developed by John George Appold.
And he demonstrated it in 1851,
at the Great Exhibition.
Was this Victorian engine pretty
effective as a pump?
It was very effective.
In fact, at the International
Exhibition, of 1862,
one of these was set up with
a tank of water.
It could pump 100 tonnes
of Water a minute.
That is about an inch of water
off an acre of land every minute,
- which is quite phenomenal.
- Absolutely phenomenal.
By the end of the Victorian era,
there were eight pumping stations
on the Somerset Levels.
This is the only one still
operational,
although it's not part of the
drainage system any more.
I've never felt so much power.
In 2014, after some of the worst
January rains on record,
25 square miles of the Somerset
Levels were left underwater.
There followed the largest mobile
pumping operation ever
undertaken in Europe.
With 120 pumps working around the
clock, capable of moving 8.5 million
tonnes of water a day, enough to fill
Wembley Stadium seven times over.
Carymoor station was
one of those on the front-line
and I'm heading there now to
meet Tim Musgrove,
of the Environment Agency,
to hear how they coped.
- Tim.
- Hello, Michael.
I've just come from seeing
a Victorian steam engine.
Yes.
Which, though Working,
is not moving Water around any more,
- but these are.
- Yes.
These two do, and do
most Winters.
- What is their job?
- Their job is to get the Water
from the moor
and push it out into the river.
These engines themselves
look quite elderly.
Yes, they're 1954, they Went in
and they're just clocking up
with 750,000 hours Without any
breakdowns.
What is the capacity?
How much water can they pump?
They're pumping just
over 2,200 litres a second, each.
You had, in Somerset,
devastating floods in 2014.
What was that like for you?
It was a busy time, I can't deny it.
In here it was all
flooded for two months.
Were the engines damaged?
No, no, the engines don't get
any Water on them,
they are built too high
out of the water.
Could I actually see
the engine running?
Yes, We're just doing
a maintenance run,
so we can start them up,
run and pump some water.
Success!
Can we see What it's doing?
Did I really do that?
So that's, what, about two
tonnes of water a second?
- Yes.
- And this is, which river now?
This is the River Tone
and it flows clown and out
to the River Parrett
and then into the Bristol Channel.
- And then safely into the sea.
- Yes.
I'm returning to Bridgwater Station,
to catch the Great Western service,
heading south.
I shall spend the last night
of this journey in Taunton.
Bradshaw says,
"The town, as seen from the station,
"has a most pleasing appearance.
"It's situated in the central part of
the luxuriant Vale of Taunton Deane."
And it mentions the Castle Hotel,
but, for once,
I've no need for my Bradshaw's.
It's a place I know well.
My guidebook gives fulsome praise to
this ancient borough town,
but before I explore pans unknown,
I'm going to relax
and enjoy
myself in familiar surroundings.
Thank you, that looks lovely.
Thank you.
I know this hotel well,
'cos I've often spent weekends here
listening to classical music.
But, tomorrow,
I must look into Taunton's history
and something altogether more
discordant.
The next day, I'm up early and out
to soak up the atmosphere
of this historic town.
The name Taunton means,
"Town on the River Tone"
and there's been a settlement here
since the Bronze Age.
It grew to be prosperous
in the Middle Ages,
thanks to the wool trade.
But my focus is on the end of the
17th century.
The English Civil War was over,
but, once again,
the monarchy was under threat.
Bradshaw's tells me that,
here in Taunton,
"The ill-fated Duke of Monmouth
proclaimed himself King, in 1685."
He'd risen in rebellion, against the
new monarch, James ll,
who, unlike his predecessor,
was a Catholic.
There followed a mighty clash of arms
and the last battle to be
fought on English soil.
The Duke of Monmouth was
an illegitimate son
of King Charles ll, living
in self-imposed exile in Holland.
In February 1685, he landed in Dorset
with 82 men and rode to Taunton,
Where the Protestant-leaning
citizens Welcomed him.
Something they would come to regret.
I'm heading to St Mary's
Church in Chedzoy,
ten miles north of Taunton,
to hear about the decisive
Battle of Sedgemoor, from the head
of Somerset Museum, Steve Minute.
Hello, Steve. Beautiful church.
It is, one of the many fantastic
ones in Somerset.
Chedzoy Church has 13th century
origins and a tower 70ft high,
which gives a commanding
view of the surrounding countryside.
Why have we come to the roof of the
tower of beautiful Chedzoy Church?
Well, there was one small incident
that occurred immediately before the
Battle of Sedgemoor,
which had a huge impact
on the events at that time.
On the morning of 5th July 1685,
a local man, by the name of
William Spark, he was a farmer,
came up here with his spyglass.
He looked out from Where we are now,
across to Westonzoyland,
Where the Royal army was camped
and saw that they weren't
particularly well-protected.
And, as a consequence of that,
Monmouth changed his plans.
And on the night of 5th July,
he set out,
in view of a surprise
attack on the Royal army.
What was the result of the attack?
It was an utter disaster,
sadly, for the Duke of Monmouth
and his followers.
The night was very misty,
they couldn't find
crossings of some of the ditches
and then a pistol was fired.
Almost certainly
one of the Royal Cavalry
had spotted something happening.
The rebels panicked
and hundreds of people were killed.
There followed an infamous period in
British history.
The fleeing rebels,
and anyone thought to
have sympathised with them,
were rounded up and put on trial at
What became known as
the Bloody Assizes.
"After the defeat at
Sedgemoor, King James' Chief Justice,
"Jeffreys,
the worthy tool of such a monster,
"held his Bloody Assizes,
at Taunton." Just here.
"Hundreds of poor wretches were
condemned to death,
"after being persuaded to throw
themselves on the King's mercy.
"The executioner hanged one
man three times."
I just can't imagine What it would've
been like to be one of the accused.
Bring on John Hucker.
- Traitor! Traitor!
- Hang him! Traitor!
Silence!
John Hucker,
you stand accused of high treason,
by lately being in armed
rebellion against your lawful King.
I am obliged by law to give you the
right to plead guilty or not guilty.
However, I will extend leniency,
Where possible,
to those who plead guilty.
I have a muster roll here,
from the Duke of Monmouth's army,
with your name on it,
as a Captain of Horse.
I also have diverse, loyal witnesses
who will swear they saw you with the Duke,
and indeed followed him all the Way
to the battle at Sedgemoor.
That being so, how do you plead?
In view of your Words, my Lord,
I plead guilty
and throw myself upon
the mercy of this court.
"Guilty", eh?
Regrettably, the depth of your crime
is such that mercy has flown.
So, John Hucker, I find you
guilty of high treason
against your lawful King.
Do you have anything to
say before I pass sentence?
- He's a traitor! Traitor!
- Liar! String him up! Traitor!
Silence!
I stand before my God,
as a man of conscience.
I could not remain idle and see
England led back to popery.
And, for that, I shall die.
Indeed you will.
John Hucker, one time
captain of rebel horse, your lands,
properties and monies will be
forfeit to the Crown.
I sentence you to a traitor's death.
You will be hanged by the neck,
out down whilst still alive and then
drawn and quartered.
May God have mercy on your soul.
Captain, take him away.
In all, 144 men and Women were
condemned to death at the Assizes.
I'll have a black tea, please.
Luckily, for us actors, it's a
refreshing cup of tea,
not the gallows that beckons.
I must say, you were a very fearsome
crowd, you really Were. You!
- Me?!
- You, screaming at me.
Thank you all very much indeed.
Um, I've got a train to catch,
so, er...
I can't hang around.
[LAUGHTER]
Divesting myself of 17th century
garb, I return to Taunton Station
for the final leg of this 200 mile
railway adventure.
The last station on my journey
will be Exeter St David's.
Bradshaw says that, "Dartmoor and the
waste called Dartmoor Forest
occupy "the greater portion of the western
district of Devonshire, which
"extends from the Vale of Exeter
to the banks of the River Tamar."
What a lovely, vast area, in which to
play a massive game of hide and seek.
Dartmoor and Dartmoor Forest
cover about 365 square
miles of rugged upland
and wooded valleys.
Interspersed with craggy
granite outcrops, known as tors.
It was officially designated
a national park in 1951,
but the Dartmoor Preservation Society
was established back in 1883.
And it was popular with Victorian
Walkers and nature lovers.
News has reached my ears
of a Dartmoor tradition,
called letterboxing,
which has enthusiasts
descending from all over the country
to scour the landscape.
To find out how it all started
and What they're looking for,
I'm heading up onto the moor to meet
keen letterboxer, Pat Reed.
- Hello, Pat.
- Hello, Michael, Welcome to Shilstone Tor.
Thank you very much.
Well, it's a remote spot,
but I've been sent here to find
out about letterboxing.
What is it, when did it begin?
It began in 1854, it was started
by a man called James Perrot,
who put the first letterbox
in a place called Cranmere Pool,
in a rather remote part of Dartmoor.
He left it there,
he had his visiting card,
he left that behind in it as well.
And then people used to go and
put their own visiting cards
in, to show that they'd actually
transversed that really difficult
part of the moor.
It was a challenge,
but even the ladies,
in their long dresses, managed it.
And that must've been quite
something, I think.
How do you get your clues?
Well, in October and March, on the
days when the clock goes forward
and the clock goes back, we have
What is called, a "letterboxer's meet".
At that meet you can buy
a catalogue.
Which is What I'm
holding in my hand how,
and this tells you
Where all the boxes are.
"Black Spots, no.66, Shilstone Tor.
"White chimney 086 degrees,
a backward L-shaped,
"small holly in boulder very close."
This is written in gobbledegook.
Well, I will help you. Tell me
What the bearing is on the tor.
172 degrees.
So there is the compass,
so you need to move this dial around
until 172 is there.
Keep it in your hand.
You have to go Where the arrow is
telling you to go.
Pat, you've given me
a little clue, I think
- I'm meant to go in that direction.
- I think you'd better!
Having been nudged
gently in the right direction,
I now must keep my eyes
open for landmarks.
When we set out,
I couldn't see any white chimney,
but, I must say, that white
chimney, actually,
- is very obvious.
- It is very obvious.
Pat, I can see the tree,
so I'm putting that now to 335.
- Do you know, I'm getting quite...
- You're getting very good at it.
Well, I don't know about that,
but I'm getting into it.
- Getting the hang of it.
- And enjoying it.
Could you remind me,
What are we looking for?
Yes, We're looking for an L-shaped
rock, with a small holly growing in it.
- Right.
- So we have to climb, I think.
- A little bit.
- Let's climb. Here we go.
20 minutes later, after a lot
of bracken bashing, we strike lucky.
- I've found it!
- Hooray!
[SHE LAUGHS]
A backward, L-shaped rock!
But finding the rock was not
the point, was it, Pat?
It was to find the box.
Exactly, but the clue tells you
that it's under the rock,
so you've got to look and see.
- There we have it.
- Ah-ha!
[WHISPERING]
The moment I've been Waiting for.
[GASPS]
ls it money?
No.
[MICHAEL LAUGHS]
No such luck.
- Oh.
- That's the visitors' book.
And a stamp...
of a dog, by the look of it.
What happens next?
Every letterboxer carries an ink pad
and a book and a stamp.
Here is your special Great British
Railway letterboxing stamp.
Ah, thank you.
Until the 1970s,
there were no more than a dozen
letterboxes around Dartmoor.
But in the last 40 years, it's become so
popular that there are said to be
over 5,000, and definitely room
for one more.
Pat, do you think
I might create my own letterbox?
I think that would be a Wonderful
idea and I know just the spot
Where you could do just that thing.
Pat, What a Wizard spot.
That is wonderful.
Absolutely perfect,
it'll take your box.
Put my stamp inside, seal the box.
- Into the hole.
- Yes.
How will people find the
Great British Railway Journeys box?
The clue for this box will
appear in the next edition
of the Catalogue
of Dartmoor Letterboxers.
- They'll have to buy the book.
- They will indeed.
The Victorians were remarkably
inventive in every sphere.
From industry, to the arts,
to how they spent their leisure time.
It was an age of change and progress,
powered by the railways.
My rail journey that
began in urban Birmingham has
ended on desolate Dartmoor,
passing Jerusalem on the Way.
It started with a whistle and,
I feared, would end with a hanging.
Once again, my Bradshaw's has
brought our island history
dramatically to life,
with all its triumphs,
tragedies and treacheries.
Every time I step on a train,
a new treasure hunt begins.
Next time...
Urgh!
That is a Princess Alexandra
style false fringe.
Real human hair from the 1880s.
- Sounding better.
- That's pretty impressive for a
- first attempt.
- Got it in one!
1,500 townspeople threatened that if
Mortimer was brought out to them,
they would hang him.
I imagine you Sackvilles have been
fairly cautious about
public opinion ever since.
Extremely!
[END THEME]