Great British Railway Journeys (2010–…): Season 7, Episode 6 - Dover to Lewes - 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
now 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.
I'm beginning a journey
that will carry me the length
of England's south coast.
By the time of my guide book,
railways had opened up
its ancient forts and beaches
to travellers of every class.
But the English Channel
remained our national moat-
a broad defence against invasion -
and throughout most
of the 19th century,
it was assumed that any
advancing enemy would be French.
Following my Bradshaw's Guide,
this week, I'll be travelling
the south coast from east to west.
Starting at the closest
crossing point to France,
I'll pass through coastal defences
and seaside resorts,
wind through Thomas Hardy country,
before ending up at the first,
and last, place in England.
Today, I'm starting in the
cross-Channel port of Dover.
From there, I travel to Hythe,
visiting its mainline in miniature,
before heading to elegant Eastbourne.
My journey finishes in Lewes,
at a country house famed
for its opera performances.
On this journey,
inspired by a brave Victorian,
I take the plunge...
I can't believe I'm doing this.
Enjoy the exhilaration of steam...
At the moment, we are doing 18mph.
It's, basically, the equivalent
of doing 75 on the mainline,
'cos We're nearer to the ground.
Yeah, it absolutely creates the
illusion of great speed.
It's very exciting!
And scale the heights
of the operatic World.
[HE SINGS AN ERRATIC SCALE]
But you skipped the highest note!
- Oh, did I?
My first stop will be Dover.
Bradshaw's says,
"It is divided from the French coast
by a passage of only 20 miles.
"Advantageously situated
on the margin of a picturesque bay,
"screened by its lofty cliffs
from the piercing northerly Winds."
Those famous white cliffs,
another formidable natural defence,
would also have been a Welcome sight
to travellers completing
the Channel crossing, having survived
its notorious tides and currents.
The South Eastern Railway Company
opened a line
from London to Dover in 1844,
connecting Victorian travellers
with the ferries steaming for France.
The town once had
a number of stations,
but only Dover Priory remains.
The port of Dover, as the closest
crossing point to the Continent,
gives access to Britain's
nearest European neighbour
and, equally, represented
the first point of defence.
The English Channel is one of the
busiest shipping lanes in the World.
On a glorious day like today, you can
see why Bradshaw's would talk about
"The Weather-beaten features
of the cliffs of Albion,
"illuminated with sunny smiles
of welcome".
And in 1875, Dover gave a Welcome
to a man who, by his endurance
and bravery,
could be regarded only as a hero.
As the trains made seaside resorts
like Dover accessible,
swimming, very slowly,
became more popular.
The epic achievement at Dover
of one very determined man
transformed Victorian attitudes.
I'm meeting local historian
Jon Iveson,
to find out about
Captain Matthew Webb.
What was it that Captain Matthew Webb
had done, that made him a hero?
He was the first person
to swim the Channel.
And how long had that taken him,
in those days?
It was just under 22 hours.
21 and three-quarter hours.
An extraordinary achievement
of endurance.
Absolutely, yes.
He believed,
when he started,
that he was going to do it in 14,
but the tides were against him.
Born in Dawley, Shropshire, Captain
Webb had been a merchant seaman
since the age of 12.
At the time of his heroic swim,
he was 27 and already had a history
of courageous watery endeavours.
In 1873, he was second mate
on the steamship The Russia.
A man fell overboard,
and he jumped off the ship,
to try and rescue him.
As a result, he was the first Winner
of the Royal Humane Society
gold medal for rescuing people.
That, Webb says, was the luckiest
thing that ever happened to him,
because it allowed him to consider
something he had been thinking about
for a While, which was
trying to swim the Channel.
On 24 August, 1875,
greased with porpoise oil,
Captain Webb
got under Way from Dover,
with a steady breaststroke
of 20 to the minute.
Because of the strong tides,
he ended up swimming a
course of 39 miles.
After 21 hours and 45 minutes
in the cold water,
he arrived in Calais,
to an ecstatic welcome.
His fame spread very rapidly
and souvenirs and pictures of him
appeared everywhere,
and he wrote a book.
This is the book he wrote - a first
edition of The Art of Swimming.
Oh, What a beautiful thing.
"By Captain Webb,
the Channel swimmer."
And here he is with his medals,
as well. That's a fantastic piece.
Did all this - the Channel
swim, the production of this book -
have an effect on the popularity
of swimming?
Yes, it did. English swimming moved
on in leaps and bounds after this.
His remarkable feat popularised
swimming, but his achievement
Wasn't matched for another 36 years
and, even today,
fewer than 2,000 have succeeded.
More people
have climbed Mount Everest.
All that talk of the heroism
of Captain Matthew Webb
has stimulated me to have a go.
Whilst I'm not about to swim
to France,
I can receive a few pointers
from Chloe McCardel,
an Australian who is very familiar
with this infamous stretch of water.
How often have you swum the Channel?
- Ten times now.
That is absolutely amazing.
How long does it take you?
Usually in the low nine hours.
It took Captain Matthew Webb
nearly 22 hours.
Any idea What the change has been?
Are you just better swimmers?
He swam it breaststroke, for
example. I swim it front crawl,
or freestyle,
which is a much faster stroke,
and the food that we eat, the
nutrition, is much more developed
these days. He drank whisky, of all
things, While crossing the Channel.
So, What makes a person like you
Want to do this?
Captain Matthew Webb himself coined
the term "nothing great is easy"
and it's got that mystique, the
history, and it's just
probably the hardest marathon swim
one could challenge oneself to do.
With Webb's mantra ringing
in my ears,
and facing a water temperature
of just 16 degrees,
I can't put it off any longer.
I'm going to have to go in.
I can't believe I'm doing this.
How do you feel?
- HIGH-PITCHED: Cold!
Very cold.
You're doing well, though.
Keep going.
Show me your crawl.
- OK.
I'm going to put my head down, though.
- Yeah.
Chloe, What's it like
when you get cold,
when you've been swimming
for a long time?
Your core temperature drops,
so your organs start getting cold,
your arms might start
doing funny things,
you might say strange things,
you may even refuse to
get out of the Water
if you're very hypothermia.
I don't think I'd refuse
to get out of the water.
You OK?
- Yup.
Do you Want a hand?
- Yup.
Wow, I'm glad to be back on board.
It's one of the most beautiful places
you can have imagine to have a swim,
isn't it, by the white cliffs
- Oh, yes.
But I found it incredibly cold.
I'm very overwhelmed.
Yes, it takes many months to
get used to that cold,
so you did very well
for your first time.
Thank you, Chloe. Good luck to you.
- Thanks.
Very thankful to be back on firm
ground, and warm on the train,
as I leave Dover heading west,
I'm reminded by my guidebook
"to pay attention to the shrill
shriek of the whistle"
as we plunge into the chalky tunnels
connecting Dover to Folkestone
and beyond.
I shall be leaving this train
at Westenhanger for Hythe.
Bradshaw's says, "The town of Hythe
is small but clean and healthy,
"and prettily situated at the foot
of a hill extending down to the sea."
It sounds divine.
From Westenhanger I make my Way
to Hythe,
still a small market town as pretty
as Bradshaw's described it.
Before going to my next destination,
I'm visiting a church
that has piqued my interest.
Bradshaw's tells me that
"the church oh the hill
"has a light tower
ornamented by four turrets",
and I've been attracted up the slope
towards it, as to a beacon.
This is the most macabre sight.
Everywhere I look there are skulls,
thigh bones, leg bones,
arm bones, jaws.
It's as though I've stumbled upon
the site of an appalling massacre.
A shock because nothing in Bradshaw's
prepared me for it.
I hope that local researcher
Mike Pearson can shed more light.
Mike, hello.
- Hi, Michael.
Welcome to the crypt of
St Leonard's Church, Hythe.
It looks like a charnel house
or something.
Is it actually the result of
a slaughter?
No, it's not, actually.
There were various theories on...
Danes killed in battle,
even Battle of Hastings people,
but We've done some research -
it's actually a normal population.
There are more females in this
collection than there are males
and there are just
under 10% young people
so it's actually a cross section
of the population dying,
we think, normally.
- How many heads do you have here?
We've got 1,200 skulls but it's
said that there are 8,000 long bones
and that amounts
to 4,000 individuals.
Are you adding to the collection?
- [LAUGHING] No, not at all!
But we do have visitors
from time to time who say,
"Can I reserve a place
for when I go?"
[THEY LAUGH]
Keeping my head when all around
have lost theirs,
my next stop is curiouser
and curiouser.
I often enthuse about stations,
and this one is absolutely beautiful, but
somehow it's shrunk,
it's not at the right size!
As though entering a Wonderland,
I've arrived at the Romney,
Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.
Opened in 1927, it's a fully working
steam railway one third of full size.
Today it's owned by Danny Martin.
Danny, hello.
- Hello. Nice to see you.
How did it come to be, then, that the
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway
was built miniature?
Well, the guys that built it had
a passion for model engineering
which, you might say,
trains of this sort of size
and then they Wanted to outdo
everyone else so they Wanted the
biggest model engineered railway
that money could buy.
This railway Wasn't open
in Bradshaw's day
but the locomotives here
hark back to the age of steam.
Has it ever had a serious purpose?
Yes, it has. During the war years,
the Royal Engineers commandeered the
railway, they ran an armoured train
and, most importantly of all,
they were constructing PLUTO -
Pipeline Under The Ocean -
and that was used to feed
the D-Day landings,
and it was dragged out nightly,
having been wound up on our railway.
Fantastic story. So is there
a train I can take?
There is, certainly.
This one We've got just here.
Super. Thank you very much.
Taking me on my journey is
professional train driver Mick Knight.
Hello, Mick.
- Hello.
Permission to come aboard?
- Oh, permission granted, sir.
Thank you very much indeed.
Nice tight fit, isn't it?
Just slip the latch down
and that's it.
But unlike most locomotives,
you get to sit down.
You do.
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
The line runs 13.5 miles
from Hythe to Dungeness.
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
This locomotive, though very small,
must be very powerful.
How many people can you carry?
Each train holds about
200-250 people.
It's the equivalent
of about 40-45 tonnes.
At the moment We're doing 18mph.
It's basically the equivalent
of doing 75 on the main line,
because were nearer to the ground.
It absolutely creates the illusion
of great speed. It's very exciting.
With half the journey completed, Mick
thinks it's time for me to have a go,
so from Romney Marsh station
I'll take over the controls
to complete the journey to Dungeness.
That feels good, doesn't it?
- There we go.
That feels good.
Amazing to me that a little
pull on that lever
brings all this power into play.
So, on your left-hand side shortly
you'll see a W sign.
Yes, and then I Whistle.
- Yep, give a toot for them.
I see a whistle board.
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
And we pass a level crossing.
What a Wonderful experience.
What a feeling of speed and of
power and responsibility.
Thank you very much, Mick.
- That's OK. Well done.
Well done, we'll make
a driver out of you yet.
My journey continues from Appledore,
Where I'm re-joining the main line
crossing from Kent into Sussex.
I'm going to spend the night in Rye.
Bradshaw's tells me
that "In the reign of King Edward Ill,
"Rye sent nine armed vessels
to the royal fleet
"when that Monarch invaded France."
It was one of the so-called
Cinque Ports
that supplied ships to the king.
And in return they received many
privileges and a lot of autonomy.
I bet the people of Rye still feel
very proud of that royal history.
Between the 11th and 16th centuries,
Rye was a port surrounded by sea
but after centuries
of storms and silting,
the coastline is now
three miles away.
One of Rye's most charming buildings
survives from its Tudor heyday,
The Mermaid Inn.
Built in the 15th century, it was the
infamous haunt of smuggling gangs
but today it offers
my bed for the night.
Ship-shape and ready to go,
I'm heading out of Rye.
The next leg of my travels
is a 45-minute journey
along the coastline to an important
resort in East Sussex.
My next stop will be Eastbourne.
My guidebook tells me that
"It has Within a very few years
"become fashionable
as a Watering place
"and offers the beauty
of country scenery
"and stately trees close to the sea."
At the time of my Bradshaw's guide,
there was a corner
of the county of Sussex
that became forever Devonshire.
The 7th Duke of Devonshire
owned much of the land
on which the small town
of Eastbourne stood.
The Victorian vogue for seaside
holidays offered him an opportunity.
He campaigned for a railway
to Eastbourne,
and after it opened in 1849
he developed a high-class resort.
He employed architect Henry Currey
to fulfill his grand designs.
I'm meeting ah architect
and local historian, Richard Crook,
by Currey's Winter Garden.
Richard.
- Good morning.
Very good to see you.
What was the character
of the Eastbourne that he wanted?
Well, Henry Currey had been on the
grand tour of Europe as a student.
He loved Italian architecture
and in particular
the architecture of Venice.
So we get this Wonderful Italianate
feel to the town centre.
And he Wanted it to be
a very high-class resort.
A town built by a gentleman
for gentlemen.
But presumably the town did have
a Working-class population?
Oh, yes, it did. Eastbourne
was quite fortunately placed
for a zoning of the resort.
And there's a nice phrase that
came down that's been quoted -
"Don't go east of the pier,
my dear."
And the idea was that the pier was
the cut-off point
from the high-class hotels, from the
boarding houses, and the laundries
and the service industries,
which were in the east end of town
on the lower-lying marshy areas.
Currey's Queen's Hotel is set forward
as a visual and geographical barrier
between the two zones, building the
class divide into the town's fabric.
Henry Currey also designed
a three-tiered promenade
running the length of the bay,
which perpetuated the resort's
class consciousness.
The local paper of the day pointed
out the fact that it took on
an unwritten social status about
which level you were walking on,
and it actually quoted that the
promenaders oh the upper level
would look down like true-born
hidalgos on the motley crowd
of nondescripts sauntering along
the lower parade.
Extraordinary Victorian snobbery.
One thing that Currey omitted from
his town plan was an opera house
because opera was mainly confined
to a short season in the capital.
All the more remarkable that in the
1930s a highly successful opera house
opened remote from any
metropolitan population.
Bradshaw's tells me that the station
at Glynde is just half a mile
from the village of Glyndebourne.
But I've decided to leave this train
at Lewes and I'm dressing
because I believe I may be able to
blend in with the crowd scene there.
[OPERA MUSIC PLAYS]
Lewes is the rail gateway to
the Glyndebourne Opera Festival.
As an opera lover,
I'm a frequent visitor
and coming by train
is part of the experience.
From the station a complimentary bus
service Whisks us to the theatre.
Do you feel excited to be going to
Glyndebourne?
Very much so.
- Yeah?
Absolutely. I've never
done something like that before
and it sounds like a lot of fun.
Where are you guys from?
- I'm from the Czech Republic.
And I'm from Belarus.
- Oh, I hope you have a Wonderful time.
Enjoy the show.
- Thank you.
[OPERA MUSIC PLAYS]
This really is the most
British scene -
people dressed up to the nines
in the heat of the summer,
bearing great burdens, their picnics,
but they're going to have a really
British experience -
opera and picnic and champagne.
Hello, everybody. How are you
enjoying your picnic, may I ask?
We're just about to start.
You look as if you're
very well prepared.
How many courses are you
sewing today?
Well, We're going to have lunch now
and then we'll have our three
courses in the long interval.
Have a Wonderful day. By the way,
there's an opera as well.
[THEY LAUGH]
Now, how important is
the opera to you?
It's extremely important.
Far more than the picnic.
- Oh, I don't know!
[THEY LAUGH]
I suppose it would go opera,
champagne, picnic.
I hope you all enjoy
a Wonderful performance
and that your picnic will be
extremely successful.
ALL: Cheers!
The Glyndebourne opera season
dominates the house
all through the summer
and yet it remains the family
home of Gus Christie.
Gus, how lovely to see you.
- Very nice to see you, Michael.
My Bradshaw's refers to Glynde Place,
which is a different house, I think,
belonging to J Langham. ls there
any connection with you?
Yes, they were cousins of ours.
Glyndebourne came into our family
around the 1830s.
And whose idea was it to attach to
this lovely house an opera house?
My grandfather was mad about opera,
so he actually built this room,
initially, in the '20s,
and they would stage scenes from
operas and a few professionals
he'd get in, one of Whom
was my grandmother.
And then he Wanted to extend this
room and make it bigger,
but she said, "if you're going to
spend all that money, John,
"for God's sake
do the thing properly."
So he built her an opera house in
the garden. Right from the beginning
my grandfather set the quality bar
extremely high.
His motto was not
the best that we can do
but the best that can be
done anywhere.
Which is a very high bar to set
and we still aspire to that
same level nowadays.
I'm lucky enough to be invited
behind the scenes
to meet one of tonight's stars,
Edgaras Montvidas.
Edgaras.
Hello, Michael.
- Good to see you.
I spotted you on the train.
Not many people would think
of a great opera star
coming down to the opera house
by train; is that a regular thing?
Absolutely, yes.
Now, you have to
perform this afternoon.
You were doing your warm-up,
do you mind if I stay for a second
While you continue?
- Not at all.
What were you doing?
I would normally sing
a couple of exercises.
You must be baritone and so
I'll do it a bit lower.
[HE SINGS SCALES]
Michael?
[HE SINGS SCALES]
But you skipped the highest note!
- Oh, did I?
[HE SINGS SCALES]
[HE SINGS SCALES]
[HE SQUEAKS AT HIGH NOTES]
That's why I skipped the high ones!
- Right.
Well, a few lessons wouldn't harm!
[THEY LAUGH]
Let's hear a piece from the opera.
- Yes.
[HE SINGS OPERATICALLY]
That's higher than...
- Beautiful.
I just Want to wish you
a fantastic performance,
and many happy years
at Glyndebourne.
Thank you very much.
- Thank you very much.
The production is Mozart's
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail,
in a performance which demonstrates that
the highest standards
are being maintained.
And it brings today's
journey to a close.
[OPERA MUSIC PLAYS]
[MUSIC ENDS]
[APPLAUSE]
The Duke of Devonshire
created in Eastbourne
the ideal of a high-class
seaside resort.
Similar attention to detail
Went into the ultimate model railway
running between Romney,
Hythe and Dymchurch.
The opera at Glyndebourne
has prospered against the odds
because of an uncompromising
commitment to excellence
and I want to pay tribute
to Captain Matthew Webb,
a Victorian hero whose motto was
"nothing great is easy",
and who endured 22 hours
in the English Channel.
Whereas I found it difficult
to survive for ten minutes.
Next time, I marvel at exquisite
railway engineering...
That is an extraordinary view,
almost as though we were in
a Gothic cathedral or something.
Take my pick in
a temple of red fruit...
All aboard for the Tomato Express!
Another go?
- Yeah.
And test my patience
against the southerly Wind.
If at first you don't succeed...
try, try again. That's the mantra of
kite flying if ever there was one.
[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
now 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.
I'm beginning a journey
that will carry me the length
of England's south coast.
By the time of my guide book,
railways had opened up
its ancient forts and beaches
to travellers of every class.
But the English Channel
remained our national moat-
a broad defence against invasion -
and throughout most
of the 19th century,
it was assumed that any
advancing enemy would be French.
Following my Bradshaw's Guide,
this week, I'll be travelling
the south coast from east to west.
Starting at the closest
crossing point to France,
I'll pass through coastal defences
and seaside resorts,
wind through Thomas Hardy country,
before ending up at the first,
and last, place in England.
Today, I'm starting in the
cross-Channel port of Dover.
From there, I travel to Hythe,
visiting its mainline in miniature,
before heading to elegant Eastbourne.
My journey finishes in Lewes,
at a country house famed
for its opera performances.
On this journey,
inspired by a brave Victorian,
I take the plunge...
I can't believe I'm doing this.
Enjoy the exhilaration of steam...
At the moment, we are doing 18mph.
It's, basically, the equivalent
of doing 75 on the mainline,
'cos We're nearer to the ground.
Yeah, it absolutely creates the
illusion of great speed.
It's very exciting!
And scale the heights
of the operatic World.
[HE SINGS AN ERRATIC SCALE]
But you skipped the highest note!
- Oh, did I?
My first stop will be Dover.
Bradshaw's says,
"It is divided from the French coast
by a passage of only 20 miles.
"Advantageously situated
on the margin of a picturesque bay,
"screened by its lofty cliffs
from the piercing northerly Winds."
Those famous white cliffs,
another formidable natural defence,
would also have been a Welcome sight
to travellers completing
the Channel crossing, having survived
its notorious tides and currents.
The South Eastern Railway Company
opened a line
from London to Dover in 1844,
connecting Victorian travellers
with the ferries steaming for France.
The town once had
a number of stations,
but only Dover Priory remains.
The port of Dover, as the closest
crossing point to the Continent,
gives access to Britain's
nearest European neighbour
and, equally, represented
the first point of defence.
The English Channel is one of the
busiest shipping lanes in the World.
On a glorious day like today, you can
see why Bradshaw's would talk about
"The Weather-beaten features
of the cliffs of Albion,
"illuminated with sunny smiles
of welcome".
And in 1875, Dover gave a Welcome
to a man who, by his endurance
and bravery,
could be regarded only as a hero.
As the trains made seaside resorts
like Dover accessible,
swimming, very slowly,
became more popular.
The epic achievement at Dover
of one very determined man
transformed Victorian attitudes.
I'm meeting local historian
Jon Iveson,
to find out about
Captain Matthew Webb.
What was it that Captain Matthew Webb
had done, that made him a hero?
He was the first person
to swim the Channel.
And how long had that taken him,
in those days?
It was just under 22 hours.
21 and three-quarter hours.
An extraordinary achievement
of endurance.
Absolutely, yes.
He believed,
when he started,
that he was going to do it in 14,
but the tides were against him.
Born in Dawley, Shropshire, Captain
Webb had been a merchant seaman
since the age of 12.
At the time of his heroic swim,
he was 27 and already had a history
of courageous watery endeavours.
In 1873, he was second mate
on the steamship The Russia.
A man fell overboard,
and he jumped off the ship,
to try and rescue him.
As a result, he was the first Winner
of the Royal Humane Society
gold medal for rescuing people.
That, Webb says, was the luckiest
thing that ever happened to him,
because it allowed him to consider
something he had been thinking about
for a While, which was
trying to swim the Channel.
On 24 August, 1875,
greased with porpoise oil,
Captain Webb
got under Way from Dover,
with a steady breaststroke
of 20 to the minute.
Because of the strong tides,
he ended up swimming a
course of 39 miles.
After 21 hours and 45 minutes
in the cold water,
he arrived in Calais,
to an ecstatic welcome.
His fame spread very rapidly
and souvenirs and pictures of him
appeared everywhere,
and he wrote a book.
This is the book he wrote - a first
edition of The Art of Swimming.
Oh, What a beautiful thing.
"By Captain Webb,
the Channel swimmer."
And here he is with his medals,
as well. That's a fantastic piece.
Did all this - the Channel
swim, the production of this book -
have an effect on the popularity
of swimming?
Yes, it did. English swimming moved
on in leaps and bounds after this.
His remarkable feat popularised
swimming, but his achievement
Wasn't matched for another 36 years
and, even today,
fewer than 2,000 have succeeded.
More people
have climbed Mount Everest.
All that talk of the heroism
of Captain Matthew Webb
has stimulated me to have a go.
Whilst I'm not about to swim
to France,
I can receive a few pointers
from Chloe McCardel,
an Australian who is very familiar
with this infamous stretch of water.
How often have you swum the Channel?
- Ten times now.
That is absolutely amazing.
How long does it take you?
Usually in the low nine hours.
It took Captain Matthew Webb
nearly 22 hours.
Any idea What the change has been?
Are you just better swimmers?
He swam it breaststroke, for
example. I swim it front crawl,
or freestyle,
which is a much faster stroke,
and the food that we eat, the
nutrition, is much more developed
these days. He drank whisky, of all
things, While crossing the Channel.
So, What makes a person like you
Want to do this?
Captain Matthew Webb himself coined
the term "nothing great is easy"
and it's got that mystique, the
history, and it's just
probably the hardest marathon swim
one could challenge oneself to do.
With Webb's mantra ringing
in my ears,
and facing a water temperature
of just 16 degrees,
I can't put it off any longer.
I'm going to have to go in.
I can't believe I'm doing this.
How do you feel?
- HIGH-PITCHED: Cold!
Very cold.
You're doing well, though.
Keep going.
Show me your crawl.
- OK.
I'm going to put my head down, though.
- Yeah.
Chloe, What's it like
when you get cold,
when you've been swimming
for a long time?
Your core temperature drops,
so your organs start getting cold,
your arms might start
doing funny things,
you might say strange things,
you may even refuse to
get out of the Water
if you're very hypothermia.
I don't think I'd refuse
to get out of the water.
You OK?
- Yup.
Do you Want a hand?
- Yup.
Wow, I'm glad to be back on board.
It's one of the most beautiful places
you can have imagine to have a swim,
isn't it, by the white cliffs
- Oh, yes.
But I found it incredibly cold.
I'm very overwhelmed.
Yes, it takes many months to
get used to that cold,
so you did very well
for your first time.
Thank you, Chloe. Good luck to you.
- Thanks.
Very thankful to be back on firm
ground, and warm on the train,
as I leave Dover heading west,
I'm reminded by my guidebook
"to pay attention to the shrill
shriek of the whistle"
as we plunge into the chalky tunnels
connecting Dover to Folkestone
and beyond.
I shall be leaving this train
at Westenhanger for Hythe.
Bradshaw's says, "The town of Hythe
is small but clean and healthy,
"and prettily situated at the foot
of a hill extending down to the sea."
It sounds divine.
From Westenhanger I make my Way
to Hythe,
still a small market town as pretty
as Bradshaw's described it.
Before going to my next destination,
I'm visiting a church
that has piqued my interest.
Bradshaw's tells me that
"the church oh the hill
"has a light tower
ornamented by four turrets",
and I've been attracted up the slope
towards it, as to a beacon.
This is the most macabre sight.
Everywhere I look there are skulls,
thigh bones, leg bones,
arm bones, jaws.
It's as though I've stumbled upon
the site of an appalling massacre.
A shock because nothing in Bradshaw's
prepared me for it.
I hope that local researcher
Mike Pearson can shed more light.
Mike, hello.
- Hi, Michael.
Welcome to the crypt of
St Leonard's Church, Hythe.
It looks like a charnel house
or something.
Is it actually the result of
a slaughter?
No, it's not, actually.
There were various theories on...
Danes killed in battle,
even Battle of Hastings people,
but We've done some research -
it's actually a normal population.
There are more females in this
collection than there are males
and there are just
under 10% young people
so it's actually a cross section
of the population dying,
we think, normally.
- How many heads do you have here?
We've got 1,200 skulls but it's
said that there are 8,000 long bones
and that amounts
to 4,000 individuals.
Are you adding to the collection?
- [LAUGHING] No, not at all!
But we do have visitors
from time to time who say,
"Can I reserve a place
for when I go?"
[THEY LAUGH]
Keeping my head when all around
have lost theirs,
my next stop is curiouser
and curiouser.
I often enthuse about stations,
and this one is absolutely beautiful, but
somehow it's shrunk,
it's not at the right size!
As though entering a Wonderland,
I've arrived at the Romney,
Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.
Opened in 1927, it's a fully working
steam railway one third of full size.
Today it's owned by Danny Martin.
Danny, hello.
- Hello. Nice to see you.
How did it come to be, then, that the
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway
was built miniature?
Well, the guys that built it had
a passion for model engineering
which, you might say,
trains of this sort of size
and then they Wanted to outdo
everyone else so they Wanted the
biggest model engineered railway
that money could buy.
This railway Wasn't open
in Bradshaw's day
but the locomotives here
hark back to the age of steam.
Has it ever had a serious purpose?
Yes, it has. During the war years,
the Royal Engineers commandeered the
railway, they ran an armoured train
and, most importantly of all,
they were constructing PLUTO -
Pipeline Under The Ocean -
and that was used to feed
the D-Day landings,
and it was dragged out nightly,
having been wound up on our railway.
Fantastic story. So is there
a train I can take?
There is, certainly.
This one We've got just here.
Super. Thank you very much.
Taking me on my journey is
professional train driver Mick Knight.
Hello, Mick.
- Hello.
Permission to come aboard?
- Oh, permission granted, sir.
Thank you very much indeed.
Nice tight fit, isn't it?
Just slip the latch down
and that's it.
But unlike most locomotives,
you get to sit down.
You do.
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
The line runs 13.5 miles
from Hythe to Dungeness.
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
This locomotive, though very small,
must be very powerful.
How many people can you carry?
Each train holds about
200-250 people.
It's the equivalent
of about 40-45 tonnes.
At the moment We're doing 18mph.
It's basically the equivalent
of doing 75 on the main line,
because were nearer to the ground.
It absolutely creates the illusion
of great speed. It's very exciting.
With half the journey completed, Mick
thinks it's time for me to have a go,
so from Romney Marsh station
I'll take over the controls
to complete the journey to Dungeness.
That feels good, doesn't it?
- There we go.
That feels good.
Amazing to me that a little
pull on that lever
brings all this power into play.
So, on your left-hand side shortly
you'll see a W sign.
Yes, and then I Whistle.
- Yep, give a toot for them.
I see a whistle board.
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
And we pass a level crossing.
What a Wonderful experience.
What a feeling of speed and of
power and responsibility.
Thank you very much, Mick.
- That's OK. Well done.
Well done, we'll make
a driver out of you yet.
My journey continues from Appledore,
Where I'm re-joining the main line
crossing from Kent into Sussex.
I'm going to spend the night in Rye.
Bradshaw's tells me
that "In the reign of King Edward Ill,
"Rye sent nine armed vessels
to the royal fleet
"when that Monarch invaded France."
It was one of the so-called
Cinque Ports
that supplied ships to the king.
And in return they received many
privileges and a lot of autonomy.
I bet the people of Rye still feel
very proud of that royal history.
Between the 11th and 16th centuries,
Rye was a port surrounded by sea
but after centuries
of storms and silting,
the coastline is now
three miles away.
One of Rye's most charming buildings
survives from its Tudor heyday,
The Mermaid Inn.
Built in the 15th century, it was the
infamous haunt of smuggling gangs
but today it offers
my bed for the night.
Ship-shape and ready to go,
I'm heading out of Rye.
The next leg of my travels
is a 45-minute journey
along the coastline to an important
resort in East Sussex.
My next stop will be Eastbourne.
My guidebook tells me that
"It has Within a very few years
"become fashionable
as a Watering place
"and offers the beauty
of country scenery
"and stately trees close to the sea."
At the time of my Bradshaw's guide,
there was a corner
of the county of Sussex
that became forever Devonshire.
The 7th Duke of Devonshire
owned much of the land
on which the small town
of Eastbourne stood.
The Victorian vogue for seaside
holidays offered him an opportunity.
He campaigned for a railway
to Eastbourne,
and after it opened in 1849
he developed a high-class resort.
He employed architect Henry Currey
to fulfill his grand designs.
I'm meeting ah architect
and local historian, Richard Crook,
by Currey's Winter Garden.
Richard.
- Good morning.
Very good to see you.
What was the character
of the Eastbourne that he wanted?
Well, Henry Currey had been on the
grand tour of Europe as a student.
He loved Italian architecture
and in particular
the architecture of Venice.
So we get this Wonderful Italianate
feel to the town centre.
And he Wanted it to be
a very high-class resort.
A town built by a gentleman
for gentlemen.
But presumably the town did have
a Working-class population?
Oh, yes, it did. Eastbourne
was quite fortunately placed
for a zoning of the resort.
And there's a nice phrase that
came down that's been quoted -
"Don't go east of the pier,
my dear."
And the idea was that the pier was
the cut-off point
from the high-class hotels, from the
boarding houses, and the laundries
and the service industries,
which were in the east end of town
on the lower-lying marshy areas.
Currey's Queen's Hotel is set forward
as a visual and geographical barrier
between the two zones, building the
class divide into the town's fabric.
Henry Currey also designed
a three-tiered promenade
running the length of the bay,
which perpetuated the resort's
class consciousness.
The local paper of the day pointed
out the fact that it took on
an unwritten social status about
which level you were walking on,
and it actually quoted that the
promenaders oh the upper level
would look down like true-born
hidalgos on the motley crowd
of nondescripts sauntering along
the lower parade.
Extraordinary Victorian snobbery.
One thing that Currey omitted from
his town plan was an opera house
because opera was mainly confined
to a short season in the capital.
All the more remarkable that in the
1930s a highly successful opera house
opened remote from any
metropolitan population.
Bradshaw's tells me that the station
at Glynde is just half a mile
from the village of Glyndebourne.
But I've decided to leave this train
at Lewes and I'm dressing
because I believe I may be able to
blend in with the crowd scene there.
[OPERA MUSIC PLAYS]
Lewes is the rail gateway to
the Glyndebourne Opera Festival.
As an opera lover,
I'm a frequent visitor
and coming by train
is part of the experience.
From the station a complimentary bus
service Whisks us to the theatre.
Do you feel excited to be going to
Glyndebourne?
Very much so.
- Yeah?
Absolutely. I've never
done something like that before
and it sounds like a lot of fun.
Where are you guys from?
- I'm from the Czech Republic.
And I'm from Belarus.
- Oh, I hope you have a Wonderful time.
Enjoy the show.
- Thank you.
[OPERA MUSIC PLAYS]
This really is the most
British scene -
people dressed up to the nines
in the heat of the summer,
bearing great burdens, their picnics,
but they're going to have a really
British experience -
opera and picnic and champagne.
Hello, everybody. How are you
enjoying your picnic, may I ask?
We're just about to start.
You look as if you're
very well prepared.
How many courses are you
sewing today?
Well, We're going to have lunch now
and then we'll have our three
courses in the long interval.
Have a Wonderful day. By the way,
there's an opera as well.
[THEY LAUGH]
Now, how important is
the opera to you?
It's extremely important.
Far more than the picnic.
- Oh, I don't know!
[THEY LAUGH]
I suppose it would go opera,
champagne, picnic.
I hope you all enjoy
a Wonderful performance
and that your picnic will be
extremely successful.
ALL: Cheers!
The Glyndebourne opera season
dominates the house
all through the summer
and yet it remains the family
home of Gus Christie.
Gus, how lovely to see you.
- Very nice to see you, Michael.
My Bradshaw's refers to Glynde Place,
which is a different house, I think,
belonging to J Langham. ls there
any connection with you?
Yes, they were cousins of ours.
Glyndebourne came into our family
around the 1830s.
And whose idea was it to attach to
this lovely house an opera house?
My grandfather was mad about opera,
so he actually built this room,
initially, in the '20s,
and they would stage scenes from
operas and a few professionals
he'd get in, one of Whom
was my grandmother.
And then he Wanted to extend this
room and make it bigger,
but she said, "if you're going to
spend all that money, John,
"for God's sake
do the thing properly."
So he built her an opera house in
the garden. Right from the beginning
my grandfather set the quality bar
extremely high.
His motto was not
the best that we can do
but the best that can be
done anywhere.
Which is a very high bar to set
and we still aspire to that
same level nowadays.
I'm lucky enough to be invited
behind the scenes
to meet one of tonight's stars,
Edgaras Montvidas.
Edgaras.
Hello, Michael.
- Good to see you.
I spotted you on the train.
Not many people would think
of a great opera star
coming down to the opera house
by train; is that a regular thing?
Absolutely, yes.
Now, you have to
perform this afternoon.
You were doing your warm-up,
do you mind if I stay for a second
While you continue?
- Not at all.
What were you doing?
I would normally sing
a couple of exercises.
You must be baritone and so
I'll do it a bit lower.
[HE SINGS SCALES]
Michael?
[HE SINGS SCALES]
But you skipped the highest note!
- Oh, did I?
[HE SINGS SCALES]
[HE SINGS SCALES]
[HE SQUEAKS AT HIGH NOTES]
That's why I skipped the high ones!
- Right.
Well, a few lessons wouldn't harm!
[THEY LAUGH]
Let's hear a piece from the opera.
- Yes.
[HE SINGS OPERATICALLY]
That's higher than...
- Beautiful.
I just Want to wish you
a fantastic performance,
and many happy years
at Glyndebourne.
Thank you very much.
- Thank you very much.
The production is Mozart's
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail,
in a performance which demonstrates that
the highest standards
are being maintained.
And it brings today's
journey to a close.
[OPERA MUSIC PLAYS]
[MUSIC ENDS]
[APPLAUSE]
The Duke of Devonshire
created in Eastbourne
the ideal of a high-class
seaside resort.
Similar attention to detail
Went into the ultimate model railway
running between Romney,
Hythe and Dymchurch.
The opera at Glyndebourne
has prospered against the odds
because of an uncompromising
commitment to excellence
and I want to pay tribute
to Captain Matthew Webb,
a Victorian hero whose motto was
"nothing great is easy",
and who endured 22 hours
in the English Channel.
Whereas I found it difficult
to survive for ten minutes.
Next time, I marvel at exquisite
railway engineering...
That is an extraordinary view,
almost as though we were in
a Gothic cathedral or something.
Take my pick in
a temple of red fruit...
All aboard for the Tomato Express!
Another go?
- Yeah.
And test my patience
against the southerly Wind.
If at first you don't succeed...
try, try again. That's the mantra of
kite flying if ever there was one.
[END THEME]