Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 7, Episode 2 - Windermere to Carnforth - 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.
This Week's journey takes me
across the North West of England
through an area
of outstanding beauty.
Where some saw the railway as an
unwelcome addition to the landscape.
I hope to explore how
the Victorians tried to strike
a balance between protecting
the Wilderness
and making access to it more
affordable for working people.
Beginning near the
Scottish border,
my route takes me through the
stunning lakes and valleys
and majestic mountains
of Cumbria,
continues south through an
industrious Lancashire mill town,
and then on to Merseyside's docks,
before reaching my final
destination on the edge
of the Peak District National Park.
On today's leg, I journey to
the heart of the Lake District,
before turning east along
the tracks to Kendal.
Joining the mainline,
I then head south
for a dash of
railway romance in Carnforth.
'At my first stop, I revisit a literary hero
familiar from my childhood.'
He's a small rabbit, isn't he?
He has to stretch up on his
tippy-toes to post his letter.
'...Lend a hand making the archetypal
fell-Walker's snack.'
[HE SNIFFS]
Wow!
Absolutely refreshing, isn't it?
- It is, yeah.
When you're making Kendal Mint
Cake, it's very rare that you get a cold.
'..Visit the home of a man
of extraordinary talents.'
It is rather ironic that the
greatest architecture critic
of his age would end up
living in a house to be
looked out of,
rather than looked towards.
Land finish off with a brief
encounter on the platform.'
It was an ideal location for
people to meet by chance.
I'm continuing my journey
around Northern England,
and enjoying the Lake District.
Bradshaw's says it is a region of
"lofty mountains, naked hills,
"bleak, barren moors
and lofty fells
"intersected with pastoral vales."
And the pastoral vales inspired a
magical world of little talking animals
that have entertained children
for more than 100 years.
I'm entering the picturesque
universe of Beatrix Potter.
She first arrived here at Windermere
in 1882 to spend her summer holidays.
The start of a lifelong love affair
with the Lake District.
Windermere owes its very existence
to an extension of the railway
from Kendal in 1847.
The station was
built on farmland in a hamlet,
which shrewdly called itself
Windermere after the mere, or lake.
It rapidly developed
into a holiday hot spot,
attracting 30,000 tourists
the year that the railway opened.
Across the lake from
Windermere is Near Sawrey,
a tiny village Where many of Beatrix
Potter's famous stories were hatched.
Liz MacFarlane from the
National Trust is giving me a tour.
We are getting, really,
a lovely view of the village.
How did Beatrix Potter first
encounter the Lake District?
She first came here when
she was 16.
That was when she
fell in love with it.
What sort of a family
did she grow up in?
Beatrix had a very
privileged upbringing.
Her father became a barrister,
but spent most of his time
either at his club or indulging
his hobby of photography.
So, long holidays were
the order of the day,
and that was how she got to know
this part of the world so well.
Beatrix was educated at home
by tutors and governesses,
and her schoolroom was
full of animals.
Mice, rabbits, hedgehogs and bats.
She was given the freedom to
roam the great outdoors.
Her studies of the natural world
inspired her Wonderful stories.
When did she first have
success as a Writer?
Well, really from
the first commercial publication
of The Tale Of Peter Rabbit in 1902.
It became instantly a bestseller,
and in the first couple of years,
it sold over 50,000 copies.
So she became well known
very, very quickly as a storyteller.
Beatrix's illustrations are full
of imagery from the village,
its narrow lanes and
colourful cottage gardens.
So here you can see the
postbox Where Peter Rabbit
posts his Valentine's card.
- Oh, yes, I remember that illustration.
It is very sweet, because he is
a small rabbit, isn't he?
He has to stretch up on his
tippy-toes to post his letter.
Beatrix made her first
home in the village in 1905,
here at Hill Top Farm,
a property she had bought with
the intention of leaving
a rather remarkable legacy.
It's a lovely, homely room, isn't it,
with the roaring log fire?
That's right. And it is
pretty much as Beatrix left it.
This is the kitchen, so the cooking
would be done oh the range,
and it was really the
heart of the farmhouse.
And does it feature in the stories?
- It does indeed, yes.
In fact, We've got a copy of
Samuel Whiskers here.
And this is really her
homage to the house.
So you can see here
Anna Maria running along,
past the dresser that you
can see just over there.
That is fantastic.
'The house and Beatrix's
belongings are as she left them,
'which makes it look as though
she's just popped out for tea.
'And you get the sense of a Woman
living here who had many interests.'
So this desk has a rather
scientific look to it, doesn't it?
This is not What I associate
with Beatrix Potter,
but I assume
this is her work, is it?
It is, absolutely. And this Work
came before the little books.
Beatrix was really interested in
the natural world,
from a scientific point of view.
So, how would you say she felt
about the Lake District?
Beatrix was passionate
about the Lake District,
and this is an area she really
Wanted to look after.
So What efforts did she
actually make to preserve it?
For instance, What was
her attitude to railways?
OK, so Beatrix Wasn't
very keen on the railways.
And that was something
that was instilled in her by
Canon Rawnsley, one of the three
founders of the National Trust.
And Beatrix was one of its
early supporters.
And the land, after her initial
purchases of Hill Top
and Castle Farm, were bought
with that in mind, that they would
be given to the Trust
to be preserved in perpetuity.
And that is exactly what has
happened. This house, these lands,
these belong to the National
Trust, and indeed
these were part of the
origin of the National Trust.
That's right. Beatrix's bequest was
the largest gift
the Trust had ever
received at that time.
Beatrix Potter's intention
was to protect
the beauty of these 4,000 acres,
but perhaps she also hoped to ensure
that future generations of children
might immerse themselves in nature
and let their imaginations run Wild.
I'm on my Way back to Windermere.
Bradshaw's tells me that "the lake
by road is almost 26 miles round.
"The lake itself should be
seen from the water
"to take in all its beauties."
To which I would add that the roads
are narrow and you feel confined,
While the Water is broad
and you feel free.
So for me, it's the ferry.
I can imagine Victorian tourists
from industrial northern towns
enjoying the lake,
the steamboats and the busy hotels.
The railway really did bring
tremendous change to the area.
That change was strongly
opposed by Beatrix Potter
and other conservationists,
like William Wordsworth,
and Canon Rawnsley.
It's perhaps thanks to
their Words of caution
that the area still looks
relatively unspoiled.
Even if you ARE admiring it
from a train.
So, Where have you been today,
Windermere?
We've been to Windermere.
We came up here on Saturday,
and we Went to Hill Top
to view Beatrix Potter's house.
And What did you think of that?
- Fabulous, it's brilliant, lovely.
Really nice.
- Did you know the works of...
Beatrix Potter?
- Yes, as a child.
Were you brought up on them?
- Yeah.
Moving along the Windermere line,
we are approaching
a town famous for its
energy-boosting confectionery.
You know, when I last Went to Kendal,
I noticed how busy the local
people were, because Bradshaw's
says that "they are engaged in carpet,
"woollens, worsted, linseed, clog,
comb, bobbin, fish-hook,
"leather, rope, woollen cord,
fruit trades and marble Works."
Such industrious people. Some of
them must have made a mint!
[SHE LAUGHS]
Kendal was nicknamed
"The Auld Grey Town"
because of its limestone
architecture.
The town looks rather sleepy today,
but I'm on my Way to What
might be one of the most
energising factory floors
in the country.
Morning, Michael.
- Hello, Peter.
Quiggins is the oldest surviving
mint-cake manufacturer in Kendal.
Peter McCafferty is a director.
Peter, is your company actually
Victorian in its foundation?
Er, yes, well, the company was
established Way back in 1840,
but that Wasn't in Kendal at the
time, that was oh the Isle of Man.
What were you making there?
Well, in those days, they started off
making just sticks of rock.
And as far as We're aware from
historical records,
I think it was the first company ever
to put lettering inside a stick of rock.
They had a visit from
Prince Albert to the island,
and so they put "Welcome, Prince Albert,
to Mona" inside the stick of rook.
Brilliant.
And you came to Kendal When?
Very, very early 1900s.
So, What was the origin
of the mint cake?
Well, the origin of mint cake
is still really, to be honest, a mystery.
Folklore says that
a batch of candy was being made,
and then mint cake was actually
made by accident,
but there's ho evidence, really,
that that is the case.
The mint cake mishap
supposedly took place in 1869.
By 1914, word of its invigorating
properties had reached
Sir Ernest Shackleton, who took it
with him on his Antarctic expedition.
And it's to be found in the
pockets of adventurers to this day.
Kendal Mint Cake actually
Went up
on the very first time
Everest was conquered,
with Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing,
and ever since then, its been
used by mountaineers,
but more mainly today, really,
by fell Walkers.
And it does pack a lot of energy?
- Oh, yeah, yeah.
If you're flagging on a walk,
have a bit of mint cake
and you'll run up the hill.
Can we see it being made?
- Yeah, let's do that.
Hello. I'm Michael.
- Steve.
Good to see you.
So, What's bubbling away in here?
So We've got white sugar, water,
glucose are the main ingredients.
Just a pinch of salt.
And then we bubble that
to a very high temperature.
We lift it Off,
and that's when we add
the secret ingredient-
our special blend of mint.
So, I am here to help.
What can I do next?
Well, if you would like
to add the fondant?
Fondant, this is, is it?
- It's fondant.
Comme ca?
- You do it very carefully,
so you don't splash yourself.
- Oh, yeah, yeah.
Just ease it in.
- Ease it in.
It can be... not quite that safe.
- OK.
Stand back, Peter.
OK, Michael, now we have the mint.
And remember, this is
the secret ingredient.
This is What makes it taste good.
Whoa!
It's coming up into my eyes,
that, er, oh, it's... Wow!
Absolutely refreshing, isn't it?
- It is, yeah.
When you make Kendal Mint Cake,
it is very rare that you get a cold.
Oh, it really has
cleaned out everything.
And does it make your eyes sting
after all these years?
I'm afraid it does.
- Does it really?
Yeah.
But it doesn't do you any harm?
- No.
Just cleans you out.
Essence of mint - nothing like it
for clearing the sinuses,
and making you cry like a baby!
It's time to dry my eyes
and finish the job.
Just trying to fill the moulds
to the top,
but Without overflowing.
I don't Want to be too generous.
I don't Want to put the company
out of business.
Well, thank you, Peter. I enjoyed that.
- OK. No, it's been a pleasure.
And, erm... because you've shown
such an interest in the business,
in the history of the business,
We've found this really old tin,
stacked it out with mint cake
for you,
and that should empower you on
your train journeys.
Oh, fantastic. I feel steam in
my boiler already.
Thank you.
- Well, thank you.
Thanks, Michael. Bye.
- Bye.
I am walking in search of
one of the best views
across the entire Southern Lakes,
heading up rather gentle hills
a couple of miles west of Kendal.
Since the earliest days of marketing
mint cake, it's been associated
with those walking up the fells
and peaks to reach the summit,
and so to end my day, I've come to
the top of Scout Scar,
and I'm going to reward myself
for my exertions
with a little bit of minty energy.
On this glorious morning,
I've ventured 20 miles west from Kendal
to Common Water,
to visit the home of a giant amongst
Victorian intellectuals.
When John Ruskin settled here at
Brantwood in 1872 at the age of 52,
he had written extensively on art,
architecture and social reform.
His thinking influenced intellectuals
such as Proust and Gandhi,
and he still inspires those
who discover him today.
Hello, ladies. So, you've just
been to see the house.
What impression do you have
now of Ruskin?
Well, I was just absolutely
bowled over by the fact
that his interests were so varied.
That it didn't matter whether it was
geology, or botany, or painting.
His pictures are extraordinary.
That he designed the Wallpaper.
I mean, he just did everything!
I mean, What a man.
So, What did you know
about him before?
I knew he did philosophy
and the Way people should live
and the general sort of... that sort
of thing, but I...
And he was an art critic, but I had
no idea of all this other...
What a person.
We could do with him now, I reckon.
One of Ruskin's most important works
is the Stones Of Venice, in which
he records the city's great Gothic
architecture in painstaking detail.
Ruskin celebrated
the Gothic for What he saw as its
reverence for nature
and natural forms.
Brantwood seems
the perfect spot to study
the relationship between man
and his environment.
And I'm meeting Howard Hull
to find out more about the
great man's attachment
to the Lake District.
Howard, I find Brantwood...
not exactly beautiful.
How did Ruskin come here?
Ruskin didn't create Brantwood
to start with,
it was ah 18th-century cottage
that he purchased.
He really intended quite
a humble dwelling
to escape from celebrity
and fame in London.
He made two additions of his own
to the house immediately,
the turret and the dining room,
on a Venetian style.
But it was when he got sick
and his cousin moved in to
look after him that
the house began to expand.
She got her hands on the chequebook
and enlarged Brantwood around him.
And so it grew like a giant crystal,
really, around the house.
It's rather ironic that the greatest
architecture critic of his age would
end up living in a building that
really isn't great architecture.
It's a house to be looked out of,
rather than looked towards.
Howard, the thing that strikes you
at once about this room, then,
is the Gothic window.
And suddenly you're thinking,
"Maybe I'm looking out of
a palazzo in Venice." #
Yes, it's like
a sort of open colonnade.
To invite the warm airs of Venice
rather than the chill winds
of Cumbria.
But it was symbolic for Ruskin,
of his attachment to a city that
he understood in fantastic depth.
In fewer than a million Words, What
was Ruskin's contribution to Venice?
You could almost rebuild Venice
using Ruskin's studies.
And indeed, a great deal of the
conservation of Venice has relied upon
information that
Ruskin gathered about it.
But the other thing that he did was
to invite people to understand
really, how a city like Venice
comes about.
What the difference in society is
that will produce either a Venice
or a Bradford.
Both Wealthy countries will produce
different things
according to their political
and economic systems.
So this makes Ruskin political,
and a social reformer?
Yes. Ruskin could be credited with
being one of the people who gave
capitalism a conscience, really.
Ruskin Wanted us to see
the consequences of our actions
and to realise that no person
and no system stands on its own
Without influence
down the line on people and
the environment in which they live.
This turret, then, was built
by Ruskin?
Yes, it was. It's a sort of carriage
lantern on the corner of the building.
And immediately raises the question
about his relationship with
the landscape.
Obviously, he Wanted to preserve it?
Yes, he Wanted to preserve it.
He wanted, above all, people to
appreciate it, understand it,
and have
a proper relationship with it.
Was he, as it were, a poetic
conservationist, or a practical one?
Both.
Ruskin was very interested
in the idea of actually learning
the practicalities of managing land
and exploring the way,
physically and practically,
that we can improve the land
and get both physical sustenance
from it and spiritual sustenance.
I'm travelling south,
again on the Windermere line -
one of the many which were so opposed
by romantic conservationists.
Ruskin objected that the train
rushed its passengers through an area
which could be appreciated properly
only at a gentle pace.
I'm continuing towards the West Coast
Mainline, and to reach my next stop,
I must change trains at Oxenholme
and then Lancaster.
'This train coming into
Lancaster now.'
As I travel south from John Ruskin's
beloved Lakes,
I'm moving from
19th-century Romanticism
to 20th century romance -
whistle-stop romance.
Next stop - Carnforth.
'We will shortly be
arriving at Carnforth.'
Carnforth railway station provided
the setting for Brief Encounter,
David Lean's famous film from 1945
starring Celia Johnson
and Trevor Howard.
The refreshment room Where
the characters first meet
was restored in 2003, and is
a thriving attraction these days,
thanks to the efforts of volunteers
such as Alec Crouch.
Hello, Alec!
- Hello, Michael.
Good to see you.
- Good to see you, too.
Here we are in the famous refreshment
room at Carnforth station.
I just wonder, why do you think they
set a romance in a railway station?
It was an ideal location for people
to meet, like that, by chance.
Do you think there's something
romantic about railways?
I personally think there are, and
I'm sure a lot of people do.
Why?
- There's something about journeys,
travel, even going to work -
it was quite exciting.
It was different.
In the film, we meet Laura, who
enters the refreshment room
with a piece of grit in her eye.
Alec, a local doctor
Waiting for his train,
comes to her rescue
with his handkerchief.
They share a brief moment of physical
contact and contemplate adultery,
but back away from it
and part for ever.
Why do you think they chose
Carnforth station?
David Lean, as far as we're aware,
rather thought he would like
Watford Junction.
The Ministry of War Transport said,
"No, you can't film in
the London area,
"we're very much in danger
of bombing, still."
So he sent members of his production
team out to various locations,
and they came up
and discovered Carnforth,
which had everything that he wanted.
There's an awful moment at the end
of the movie,
Where Celia Johnson, Laura, rushes
out to the edge of the platform,
possibly contemplating suicide.
Tell me about that?
Yes, that's after
she's said farewell to Alec.
And she then rushes out
onto the mainline platform,
just as a night express
is racing north.
And her face really does show
that she's contemplating,
"What shall I do?"
You can read her mind at
that point.
But then, she decides she's going to
go home to her husband and children.
She steps back.
- Yes.
The whole movie's about
stepping back, isn't it?
About staying behind
the yellow line?
In many ways,
yes, yes, I suppose...
That's a nice Way of
putting it. Yes.
Are you tourists in Carnforth?
- We are. We are.
And have you come
because of the movie?
Yes. We have.
- Ah!
Do you think the film today means
as much to people as it did then?
Would you say it was
an old-fashioned film?
It captures a period of time
that's gone.
Quintessentially English
in the accents and the fact it's
set in a tearoom at all
is relevant to it all.
The steam from urns and trains...
Yeah, it is.
It draws people in because
it seems to say something about
Englishness, I suppose.
Do you think if you remade
Brief Encounter today, with
electric trains or diesels,
it would be the same?
No, I don't think so, because
it's part of the period
and the romance of the period
that it was set in at that time.
Also inspired by a sense
of duty, really.
Each Wanted to do something, but
felt compelled to do something else.
I think that captures a moment-
maybe We've moved on from there,
in many respects.
The refreshment room Welcomes
visitors from all over the World.
So has owner Andrew Coates managed to
recreate the atmosphere of the film?
When I remember the tearoom,
apart from the fact that the tea was
a bit cheaper in those days,
is that the service was a bit brusque
and a bit unsympathetic.
Now, has that changed much?
Not at all!
No.
And What about romances in your
refreshment room? Any of those?
Yes, yes.
They'll come up to me,
and they're going to get engaged,
so they'll have a picture under the
famous clock, then they'll say to me,
"Would you mind putting this
engagement ring under the cup?"
So, it's like that.
And then it'll be a table service.
Because there Wasn't
table service in the film.
So you've got to charge them
a bit more for that.
And then, when she comes to turn
the cup over,
the engagement ring
would be underneath.
Do you know, under your
heart of stone, I think
there lurks something
a little bit warmer.
I'd like to hope so, yeah.
The sense of duty and self-sacrifice that was
prevalent in
wartime Britain may have faded.
But the romance of the railway
lives on at Carnforth.
God-fearing Victorians like
John Ruskin Worried about the damage
that man was doing to Creation,
particularly to the Garden of England.
And a child of the Victorian era,
Beatrix Potter, used her
fortune to safeguard the Lake District.
The decades since have proved
that our engagement with
the environment has been more
than just a Brief Encounter.
'Next time, I dabble in
21 St-century technology.'
Feels like some medical procedure,
like having my blood pressure taken.
'..Learn a thing or two about art.'
I'm sure you're almost about to say
matchstick figures, aren't you, Michael?
Well, matchsticks they are not.
They're much more observed,
much more acute.
Land enjoy a good old
Lancashire sing-song.'
[SINGING] "As they did when
he measured me finger
"For t'little gowd ring
last neet."
[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.
This Week's journey takes me
across the North West of England
through an area
of outstanding beauty.
Where some saw the railway as an
unwelcome addition to the landscape.
I hope to explore how
the Victorians tried to strike
a balance between protecting
the Wilderness
and making access to it more
affordable for working people.
Beginning near the
Scottish border,
my route takes me through the
stunning lakes and valleys
and majestic mountains
of Cumbria,
continues south through an
industrious Lancashire mill town,
and then on to Merseyside's docks,
before reaching my final
destination on the edge
of the Peak District National Park.
On today's leg, I journey to
the heart of the Lake District,
before turning east along
the tracks to Kendal.
Joining the mainline,
I then head south
for a dash of
railway romance in Carnforth.
'At my first stop, I revisit a literary hero
familiar from my childhood.'
He's a small rabbit, isn't he?
He has to stretch up on his
tippy-toes to post his letter.
'...Lend a hand making the archetypal
fell-Walker's snack.'
[HE SNIFFS]
Wow!
Absolutely refreshing, isn't it?
- It is, yeah.
When you're making Kendal Mint
Cake, it's very rare that you get a cold.
'..Visit the home of a man
of extraordinary talents.'
It is rather ironic that the
greatest architecture critic
of his age would end up
living in a house to be
looked out of,
rather than looked towards.
Land finish off with a brief
encounter on the platform.'
It was an ideal location for
people to meet by chance.
I'm continuing my journey
around Northern England,
and enjoying the Lake District.
Bradshaw's says it is a region of
"lofty mountains, naked hills,
"bleak, barren moors
and lofty fells
"intersected with pastoral vales."
And the pastoral vales inspired a
magical world of little talking animals
that have entertained children
for more than 100 years.
I'm entering the picturesque
universe of Beatrix Potter.
She first arrived here at Windermere
in 1882 to spend her summer holidays.
The start of a lifelong love affair
with the Lake District.
Windermere owes its very existence
to an extension of the railway
from Kendal in 1847.
The station was
built on farmland in a hamlet,
which shrewdly called itself
Windermere after the mere, or lake.
It rapidly developed
into a holiday hot spot,
attracting 30,000 tourists
the year that the railway opened.
Across the lake from
Windermere is Near Sawrey,
a tiny village Where many of Beatrix
Potter's famous stories were hatched.
Liz MacFarlane from the
National Trust is giving me a tour.
We are getting, really,
a lovely view of the village.
How did Beatrix Potter first
encounter the Lake District?
She first came here when
she was 16.
That was when she
fell in love with it.
What sort of a family
did she grow up in?
Beatrix had a very
privileged upbringing.
Her father became a barrister,
but spent most of his time
either at his club or indulging
his hobby of photography.
So, long holidays were
the order of the day,
and that was how she got to know
this part of the world so well.
Beatrix was educated at home
by tutors and governesses,
and her schoolroom was
full of animals.
Mice, rabbits, hedgehogs and bats.
She was given the freedom to
roam the great outdoors.
Her studies of the natural world
inspired her Wonderful stories.
When did she first have
success as a Writer?
Well, really from
the first commercial publication
of The Tale Of Peter Rabbit in 1902.
It became instantly a bestseller,
and in the first couple of years,
it sold over 50,000 copies.
So she became well known
very, very quickly as a storyteller.
Beatrix's illustrations are full
of imagery from the village,
its narrow lanes and
colourful cottage gardens.
So here you can see the
postbox Where Peter Rabbit
posts his Valentine's card.
- Oh, yes, I remember that illustration.
It is very sweet, because he is
a small rabbit, isn't he?
He has to stretch up on his
tippy-toes to post his letter.
Beatrix made her first
home in the village in 1905,
here at Hill Top Farm,
a property she had bought with
the intention of leaving
a rather remarkable legacy.
It's a lovely, homely room, isn't it,
with the roaring log fire?
That's right. And it is
pretty much as Beatrix left it.
This is the kitchen, so the cooking
would be done oh the range,
and it was really the
heart of the farmhouse.
And does it feature in the stories?
- It does indeed, yes.
In fact, We've got a copy of
Samuel Whiskers here.
And this is really her
homage to the house.
So you can see here
Anna Maria running along,
past the dresser that you
can see just over there.
That is fantastic.
'The house and Beatrix's
belongings are as she left them,
'which makes it look as though
she's just popped out for tea.
'And you get the sense of a Woman
living here who had many interests.'
So this desk has a rather
scientific look to it, doesn't it?
This is not What I associate
with Beatrix Potter,
but I assume
this is her work, is it?
It is, absolutely. And this Work
came before the little books.
Beatrix was really interested in
the natural world,
from a scientific point of view.
So, how would you say she felt
about the Lake District?
Beatrix was passionate
about the Lake District,
and this is an area she really
Wanted to look after.
So What efforts did she
actually make to preserve it?
For instance, What was
her attitude to railways?
OK, so Beatrix Wasn't
very keen on the railways.
And that was something
that was instilled in her by
Canon Rawnsley, one of the three
founders of the National Trust.
And Beatrix was one of its
early supporters.
And the land, after her initial
purchases of Hill Top
and Castle Farm, were bought
with that in mind, that they would
be given to the Trust
to be preserved in perpetuity.
And that is exactly what has
happened. This house, these lands,
these belong to the National
Trust, and indeed
these were part of the
origin of the National Trust.
That's right. Beatrix's bequest was
the largest gift
the Trust had ever
received at that time.
Beatrix Potter's intention
was to protect
the beauty of these 4,000 acres,
but perhaps she also hoped to ensure
that future generations of children
might immerse themselves in nature
and let their imaginations run Wild.
I'm on my Way back to Windermere.
Bradshaw's tells me that "the lake
by road is almost 26 miles round.
"The lake itself should be
seen from the water
"to take in all its beauties."
To which I would add that the roads
are narrow and you feel confined,
While the Water is broad
and you feel free.
So for me, it's the ferry.
I can imagine Victorian tourists
from industrial northern towns
enjoying the lake,
the steamboats and the busy hotels.
The railway really did bring
tremendous change to the area.
That change was strongly
opposed by Beatrix Potter
and other conservationists,
like William Wordsworth,
and Canon Rawnsley.
It's perhaps thanks to
their Words of caution
that the area still looks
relatively unspoiled.
Even if you ARE admiring it
from a train.
So, Where have you been today,
Windermere?
We've been to Windermere.
We came up here on Saturday,
and we Went to Hill Top
to view Beatrix Potter's house.
And What did you think of that?
- Fabulous, it's brilliant, lovely.
Really nice.
- Did you know the works of...
Beatrix Potter?
- Yes, as a child.
Were you brought up on them?
- Yeah.
Moving along the Windermere line,
we are approaching
a town famous for its
energy-boosting confectionery.
You know, when I last Went to Kendal,
I noticed how busy the local
people were, because Bradshaw's
says that "they are engaged in carpet,
"woollens, worsted, linseed, clog,
comb, bobbin, fish-hook,
"leather, rope, woollen cord,
fruit trades and marble Works."
Such industrious people. Some of
them must have made a mint!
[SHE LAUGHS]
Kendal was nicknamed
"The Auld Grey Town"
because of its limestone
architecture.
The town looks rather sleepy today,
but I'm on my Way to What
might be one of the most
energising factory floors
in the country.
Morning, Michael.
- Hello, Peter.
Quiggins is the oldest surviving
mint-cake manufacturer in Kendal.
Peter McCafferty is a director.
Peter, is your company actually
Victorian in its foundation?
Er, yes, well, the company was
established Way back in 1840,
but that Wasn't in Kendal at the
time, that was oh the Isle of Man.
What were you making there?
Well, in those days, they started off
making just sticks of rock.
And as far as We're aware from
historical records,
I think it was the first company ever
to put lettering inside a stick of rock.
They had a visit from
Prince Albert to the island,
and so they put "Welcome, Prince Albert,
to Mona" inside the stick of rook.
Brilliant.
And you came to Kendal When?
Very, very early 1900s.
So, What was the origin
of the mint cake?
Well, the origin of mint cake
is still really, to be honest, a mystery.
Folklore says that
a batch of candy was being made,
and then mint cake was actually
made by accident,
but there's ho evidence, really,
that that is the case.
The mint cake mishap
supposedly took place in 1869.
By 1914, word of its invigorating
properties had reached
Sir Ernest Shackleton, who took it
with him on his Antarctic expedition.
And it's to be found in the
pockets of adventurers to this day.
Kendal Mint Cake actually
Went up
on the very first time
Everest was conquered,
with Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing,
and ever since then, its been
used by mountaineers,
but more mainly today, really,
by fell Walkers.
And it does pack a lot of energy?
- Oh, yeah, yeah.
If you're flagging on a walk,
have a bit of mint cake
and you'll run up the hill.
Can we see it being made?
- Yeah, let's do that.
Hello. I'm Michael.
- Steve.
Good to see you.
So, What's bubbling away in here?
So We've got white sugar, water,
glucose are the main ingredients.
Just a pinch of salt.
And then we bubble that
to a very high temperature.
We lift it Off,
and that's when we add
the secret ingredient-
our special blend of mint.
So, I am here to help.
What can I do next?
Well, if you would like
to add the fondant?
Fondant, this is, is it?
- It's fondant.
Comme ca?
- You do it very carefully,
so you don't splash yourself.
- Oh, yeah, yeah.
Just ease it in.
- Ease it in.
It can be... not quite that safe.
- OK.
Stand back, Peter.
OK, Michael, now we have the mint.
And remember, this is
the secret ingredient.
This is What makes it taste good.
Whoa!
It's coming up into my eyes,
that, er, oh, it's... Wow!
Absolutely refreshing, isn't it?
- It is, yeah.
When you make Kendal Mint Cake,
it is very rare that you get a cold.
Oh, it really has
cleaned out everything.
And does it make your eyes sting
after all these years?
I'm afraid it does.
- Does it really?
Yeah.
But it doesn't do you any harm?
- No.
Just cleans you out.
Essence of mint - nothing like it
for clearing the sinuses,
and making you cry like a baby!
It's time to dry my eyes
and finish the job.
Just trying to fill the moulds
to the top,
but Without overflowing.
I don't Want to be too generous.
I don't Want to put the company
out of business.
Well, thank you, Peter. I enjoyed that.
- OK. No, it's been a pleasure.
And, erm... because you've shown
such an interest in the business,
in the history of the business,
We've found this really old tin,
stacked it out with mint cake
for you,
and that should empower you on
your train journeys.
Oh, fantastic. I feel steam in
my boiler already.
Thank you.
- Well, thank you.
Thanks, Michael. Bye.
- Bye.
I am walking in search of
one of the best views
across the entire Southern Lakes,
heading up rather gentle hills
a couple of miles west of Kendal.
Since the earliest days of marketing
mint cake, it's been associated
with those walking up the fells
and peaks to reach the summit,
and so to end my day, I've come to
the top of Scout Scar,
and I'm going to reward myself
for my exertions
with a little bit of minty energy.
On this glorious morning,
I've ventured 20 miles west from Kendal
to Common Water,
to visit the home of a giant amongst
Victorian intellectuals.
When John Ruskin settled here at
Brantwood in 1872 at the age of 52,
he had written extensively on art,
architecture and social reform.
His thinking influenced intellectuals
such as Proust and Gandhi,
and he still inspires those
who discover him today.
Hello, ladies. So, you've just
been to see the house.
What impression do you have
now of Ruskin?
Well, I was just absolutely
bowled over by the fact
that his interests were so varied.
That it didn't matter whether it was
geology, or botany, or painting.
His pictures are extraordinary.
That he designed the Wallpaper.
I mean, he just did everything!
I mean, What a man.
So, What did you know
about him before?
I knew he did philosophy
and the Way people should live
and the general sort of... that sort
of thing, but I...
And he was an art critic, but I had
no idea of all this other...
What a person.
We could do with him now, I reckon.
One of Ruskin's most important works
is the Stones Of Venice, in which
he records the city's great Gothic
architecture in painstaking detail.
Ruskin celebrated
the Gothic for What he saw as its
reverence for nature
and natural forms.
Brantwood seems
the perfect spot to study
the relationship between man
and his environment.
And I'm meeting Howard Hull
to find out more about the
great man's attachment
to the Lake District.
Howard, I find Brantwood...
not exactly beautiful.
How did Ruskin come here?
Ruskin didn't create Brantwood
to start with,
it was ah 18th-century cottage
that he purchased.
He really intended quite
a humble dwelling
to escape from celebrity
and fame in London.
He made two additions of his own
to the house immediately,
the turret and the dining room,
on a Venetian style.
But it was when he got sick
and his cousin moved in to
look after him that
the house began to expand.
She got her hands on the chequebook
and enlarged Brantwood around him.
And so it grew like a giant crystal,
really, around the house.
It's rather ironic that the greatest
architecture critic of his age would
end up living in a building that
really isn't great architecture.
It's a house to be looked out of,
rather than looked towards.
Howard, the thing that strikes you
at once about this room, then,
is the Gothic window.
And suddenly you're thinking,
"Maybe I'm looking out of
a palazzo in Venice." #
Yes, it's like
a sort of open colonnade.
To invite the warm airs of Venice
rather than the chill winds
of Cumbria.
But it was symbolic for Ruskin,
of his attachment to a city that
he understood in fantastic depth.
In fewer than a million Words, What
was Ruskin's contribution to Venice?
You could almost rebuild Venice
using Ruskin's studies.
And indeed, a great deal of the
conservation of Venice has relied upon
information that
Ruskin gathered about it.
But the other thing that he did was
to invite people to understand
really, how a city like Venice
comes about.
What the difference in society is
that will produce either a Venice
or a Bradford.
Both Wealthy countries will produce
different things
according to their political
and economic systems.
So this makes Ruskin political,
and a social reformer?
Yes. Ruskin could be credited with
being one of the people who gave
capitalism a conscience, really.
Ruskin Wanted us to see
the consequences of our actions
and to realise that no person
and no system stands on its own
Without influence
down the line on people and
the environment in which they live.
This turret, then, was built
by Ruskin?
Yes, it was. It's a sort of carriage
lantern on the corner of the building.
And immediately raises the question
about his relationship with
the landscape.
Obviously, he Wanted to preserve it?
Yes, he Wanted to preserve it.
He wanted, above all, people to
appreciate it, understand it,
and have
a proper relationship with it.
Was he, as it were, a poetic
conservationist, or a practical one?
Both.
Ruskin was very interested
in the idea of actually learning
the practicalities of managing land
and exploring the way,
physically and practically,
that we can improve the land
and get both physical sustenance
from it and spiritual sustenance.
I'm travelling south,
again on the Windermere line -
one of the many which were so opposed
by romantic conservationists.
Ruskin objected that the train
rushed its passengers through an area
which could be appreciated properly
only at a gentle pace.
I'm continuing towards the West Coast
Mainline, and to reach my next stop,
I must change trains at Oxenholme
and then Lancaster.
'This train coming into
Lancaster now.'
As I travel south from John Ruskin's
beloved Lakes,
I'm moving from
19th-century Romanticism
to 20th century romance -
whistle-stop romance.
Next stop - Carnforth.
'We will shortly be
arriving at Carnforth.'
Carnforth railway station provided
the setting for Brief Encounter,
David Lean's famous film from 1945
starring Celia Johnson
and Trevor Howard.
The refreshment room Where
the characters first meet
was restored in 2003, and is
a thriving attraction these days,
thanks to the efforts of volunteers
such as Alec Crouch.
Hello, Alec!
- Hello, Michael.
Good to see you.
- Good to see you, too.
Here we are in the famous refreshment
room at Carnforth station.
I just wonder, why do you think they
set a romance in a railway station?
It was an ideal location for people
to meet, like that, by chance.
Do you think there's something
romantic about railways?
I personally think there are, and
I'm sure a lot of people do.
Why?
- There's something about journeys,
travel, even going to work -
it was quite exciting.
It was different.
In the film, we meet Laura, who
enters the refreshment room
with a piece of grit in her eye.
Alec, a local doctor
Waiting for his train,
comes to her rescue
with his handkerchief.
They share a brief moment of physical
contact and contemplate adultery,
but back away from it
and part for ever.
Why do you think they chose
Carnforth station?
David Lean, as far as we're aware,
rather thought he would like
Watford Junction.
The Ministry of War Transport said,
"No, you can't film in
the London area,
"we're very much in danger
of bombing, still."
So he sent members of his production
team out to various locations,
and they came up
and discovered Carnforth,
which had everything that he wanted.
There's an awful moment at the end
of the movie,
Where Celia Johnson, Laura, rushes
out to the edge of the platform,
possibly contemplating suicide.
Tell me about that?
Yes, that's after
she's said farewell to Alec.
And she then rushes out
onto the mainline platform,
just as a night express
is racing north.
And her face really does show
that she's contemplating,
"What shall I do?"
You can read her mind at
that point.
But then, she decides she's going to
go home to her husband and children.
She steps back.
- Yes.
The whole movie's about
stepping back, isn't it?
About staying behind
the yellow line?
In many ways,
yes, yes, I suppose...
That's a nice Way of
putting it. Yes.
Are you tourists in Carnforth?
- We are. We are.
And have you come
because of the movie?
Yes. We have.
- Ah!
Do you think the film today means
as much to people as it did then?
Would you say it was
an old-fashioned film?
It captures a period of time
that's gone.
Quintessentially English
in the accents and the fact it's
set in a tearoom at all
is relevant to it all.
The steam from urns and trains...
Yeah, it is.
It draws people in because
it seems to say something about
Englishness, I suppose.
Do you think if you remade
Brief Encounter today, with
electric trains or diesels,
it would be the same?
No, I don't think so, because
it's part of the period
and the romance of the period
that it was set in at that time.
Also inspired by a sense
of duty, really.
Each Wanted to do something, but
felt compelled to do something else.
I think that captures a moment-
maybe We've moved on from there,
in many respects.
The refreshment room Welcomes
visitors from all over the World.
So has owner Andrew Coates managed to
recreate the atmosphere of the film?
When I remember the tearoom,
apart from the fact that the tea was
a bit cheaper in those days,
is that the service was a bit brusque
and a bit unsympathetic.
Now, has that changed much?
Not at all!
No.
And What about romances in your
refreshment room? Any of those?
Yes, yes.
They'll come up to me,
and they're going to get engaged,
so they'll have a picture under the
famous clock, then they'll say to me,
"Would you mind putting this
engagement ring under the cup?"
So, it's like that.
And then it'll be a table service.
Because there Wasn't
table service in the film.
So you've got to charge them
a bit more for that.
And then, when she comes to turn
the cup over,
the engagement ring
would be underneath.
Do you know, under your
heart of stone, I think
there lurks something
a little bit warmer.
I'd like to hope so, yeah.
The sense of duty and self-sacrifice that was
prevalent in
wartime Britain may have faded.
But the romance of the railway
lives on at Carnforth.
God-fearing Victorians like
John Ruskin Worried about the damage
that man was doing to Creation,
particularly to the Garden of England.
And a child of the Victorian era,
Beatrix Potter, used her
fortune to safeguard the Lake District.
The decades since have proved
that our engagement with
the environment has been more
than just a Brief Encounter.
'Next time, I dabble in
21 St-century technology.'
Feels like some medical procedure,
like having my blood pressure taken.
'..Learn a thing or two about art.'
I'm sure you're almost about to say
matchstick figures, aren't you, Michael?
Well, matchsticks they are not.
They're much more observed,
much more acute.
Land enjoy a good old
Lancashire sing-song.'
[SINGING] "As they did when
he measured me finger
"For t'little gowd ring
last neet."
[END THEME]