theDISCOVER BRITAIN WITH BRITAIN’S BEST GUIDES

GUIDESUMMER 2017

THE ARTOF TRAVELThe landscapes that inspired

our great artists

Suffragette Stories

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The places and people that created the modern world

HISTORY THAT ROCKS

INSIDE

LEGENDS, LIES AND LORE

OUR GUIDES’ GUIDE TO WALES

Walking with dinosaurs on the Jurassic Coast

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ENGLAND LONDON WALES NORTHERNIRELAND

SCOTLAND GREEN BADGE

This magazine is produced by the British Guild of Tourist Guides – the nationalassociation for Blue Badge Guides (the highest guiding qualification in Britain.)

Email: theguide@blue-badge.org.uk • www.britainsbestguides.org

Editor: Marc Zakian

E: marczakian@blueyonder.co.uk

Publisher:British Guild of Tourist Guides ©2017

Design and print:MYPEC T: +44 113 257 9646 W: www.mypec.co.ukDisplay advertising: Andy Bettley T: 07846 979625 andy@mypec.co.uk

Welcome to our magazine, intended to inspireand inform you of this country’s many delights!

This issue includes landscapes and cityscapescaptured by British artists. From John Constable’sEast Anglia to LS Lowry’s Salford via BarbaraHepworth’s Cornwall, Sophie Campbell’s articlepaints pictures with words that show how Britainhas become a canvas for talented artists overmany years.

Not as many years though as the denizens ofDorset’s Jurassic Coast, where dinosaurs onceruled. Read how their fossilised imprint on thisancient landscape made an impression on localBlue Badge Guide, Richard Madden. Collectorsand antiquarians brought about a revolution inunderstanding the development of life on thisplanet and Richard’s interview captures theirthrilling appeal.

A different revolution is the subject of LondonBlue Badge Guide Mary Carroll’s story: campaignsa century ago to win the right for women to vote.Mary’s passion for the subject inspires theattention to detail and the engaging theatricalityshe brings to her tours.

Yet another revolution is the subject of MarcZakian’s feature – the Industrial Revolutiontransforming society since the 18th century. Frommining to manufacturing, ship canals to steamengines, clogs to ‘Cottonopolis’, Royal Institutionto Great Exhibition, Marc introduces the placesand people who helped create our modern world.

If Britain lays claim to being the cradle of theFirst (steam) Industrial Revolution – and harbingerof the Second (electric) Industrial Revolution – weare now living through an exciting Third (digital)Revolution. Whether you’re reading these words intraditional print or digitally, being a technologicaldinosaur is simply not an option.

So I’m pleased to tell you about improvementsto our website www.britainsbestguides.org thatwill help you find the perfect guide for your toursin Britain. There’s now a ‘Find a Tour’ search toolto help you connect quickly with popular tourideas and local guides.

‘Find A Tour’ works alongside our much-usedsearch tools: ‘Find a Guide’ – connecting you witha relevant selection from 1000 guides. Alsoconnect with us through Facebook, Twitter, ourblog, or by phoning our office.

Discover more of our great stories in theentertaining company of Britain’s best guides!

Mark King, Chair to the British Guild of Tourist Guides

4 What to see this summerTake a visit to Poldark country; tour London’s most charmingmuseum; walk in Eddie Redmayne’s footsteps

6 The Guides’ GuideFrom snow-capped peaks to mighty fortresses, our guides reveal their top ten places to visit in Wales

8 Iron MenThe people and places that created the Industrial Revolution

16 Legends, Lies and LoreFact and fiction from British history

18 The Art of Travel The landscapes of Britain that inspired our great artists

28 Tour de Force Blue Badge Guide Richard Madden takes us on a walk withdinosaurs on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast

32 Tour de Force Blue Badge Guide Mary Carroll marches us through women’sstruggle for emancipation

Contents

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Front Cover: St Ives Bay Photo: National Trust

A WARM WELCOME TO ‘THE GUIDE’...

History, Culture and Events NEWS

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BRITAIN’S BEST GUIDES

To find out more or to book: +44 20 7403 1115www.britainsbestguides.org

Sarah Milne-DayYorkshire Blue Badge Guide

Blue Badge Tourist Guides are theofficial, professional tourist guidesof the United Kingdom – recognisedby the local tourist bodies and

VisitBritain. There are over 1000 Blue BadgeGuides in England, Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ireland – each region and nationhas its own badge. They guide in all the UK’smajor tourist attractions, as well as its cities and countryside.

Green Badge Guides have expert local knowledge of particular townsand cities. White Badge Guides

have detailed knowledge of their specific site.

Institute of Tourist Guiding

is responsible for setting and maintainingguiding standards across England,Northern Ireland and Jersey. TheInstitute’s blue, green and white badgequalifications are world renowned andrepresent a benchmark in quality andprofessionalism. To gain one of theInstitute’s badges guides typically studyfor up to two years, taking a combinationof written and practical examinations toensure they reach the Institute’s highstandards.

British Guild of Tourist Guides

is the national association of Britain’sguides. Since its foundation in 1950, theGuild has dedicated itself to raising andmaintaining the highest professionalstandards and meeting our visitors’ needs.Our guides work in the UK’s museums,galleries, churches and lead walking,cycling, coach, car and driver-guided toursthroughout the country. Our memberswork in over 30 different languages.

The third series of the BBC’s Poldarkcomes to UK screens in June. The 18thcentury story of passion and pirating setin the West Country has fans of the dramavisiting the filming locations.

Part of the new series was filmed in theSomerset town of Wells, with its town hallstanding in as a bank and the marketsquare featuring, appropriately, as amarket. The famous Cathedral Green also appeared as a backdrop.

The series is also filmed in Poldark’shome county of Cornwall, in various

locations including St Agnes Head – closeto author Winston Graham’s home – aswell as Botallack, Gwennap Head, andPenberth.

While filming can mean blocked streets and inconvenience for locals, the recompense is that their housesbecome more valuable. A study carriedout by MyHomeMove revealed that anappearance in a TV programme can addthousands to property values. Shows suchas Poldark and Downton Abbey, known fortheir scenic settings, added up to 6% tothe value of properties in the areas wherethey were filmed.

For a Poldark tour of the West Countrygo to britainsbestguides.org

PIRATE TV

Numerous kings, plenty ofprinces (including Williamand Harry), dozens of dukes,barrel-loads of barons,gaggles of generals, 19British Prime Ministers andseveral spies who watchedthem. What do they have incommon? Eton College.

The school has been closedto visitors for the last threeyears, but now the boys’college is opening to theSchool Days

from around the UK

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public with guided toursoffered by a skilled team ofBlue Badge Guides.

Founded in 1440 by KingHenry VI for 70 poor scholars,Eton has educated many ofthe characters who haveshaped our nation. Toursfollow their stories, with visitsto the school yard (where thegame of Fives developed), thebeautiful 15th century chapel(choral alumni include Oscar

winning actor, EddieRedmayne) as well as theUpper and Lower School(with schoolrooms datingfrom the 1500s), the Museumof Eton Life and the recentlyopened Verey Art Gallery.

Tours run on Fridayafternoons only, from May to 8 September 14.00-15.30 and16.00-17.30. £10 for adults,under 17s free. Bookings atwww.etoncollege.com

Lower School c1940

CaféThe Black Gardener by Harold Gilman

Britains Oldest Watering Can

View from the Medieval Tower P

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Sitting in the shadow of the medievalmight of Lambeth Palace is one ofLondon’s most charming museums. TheGarden Museum was built from the shellof the deconsecrated church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, rescued from demolition inthe 1970s when the 17th century tomb ofJohn Tradescant, Britain’s first greatgardener and plant-hunter, wasdiscovered in the churchyard.

Now, following an 18 month £7.5 million re-development project, the museum is reopening. The designincorporates a new courtyard extension,built without foundations due to the20,000 bodies buried on the site, somedating back 1000 years.

Visitors can climb the 14th centurytower – opening to the public for the firsttime – and visit The Ark Gallery, arecreation of the Tradescants’ 17thcentury cabinet of curiosities. Exhibitsinclude the rediscovered tombstone ofElias Ashmole (Oxford’s AshmoleanMuseum is based on his collection),Britain’s oldest watering-can and Harold Gilman’s iconic ‘Portrait of aBlack Gardener’.

The museum features a new, themedgarden, described as an ‘Eden’ of rareplants.

Open daily from 22nd May 10.30-17.00 (Saturday 10.30-16.00)www.gardenmuseum.org.uk

SEEDS OF Change

ST DAVIDS

LLANELLINEATH

Brecon Beacons National Park

Pembrokeshire CoastNational Park

LLANDRINDOD WELLS

MILFORD HAVEN

HAVERFORDWEST

CARMARTHEN

TREGARON

LLANYBYDDER

LAMPETER

ABERYSTWYTH

NEWTOWN

CARNO

BORTH

Snowdonia National Park

CORWEN

RHYLCOLWYN BAY

LLANDUDNO

BANGOR

CAERNARFON

PWLLHELI

ABERSOCHABERDARON

ANGLESEYHOLYHEAD

BETWS-Y-COED

BARMOUTH

HARLECH

BALA

LLANRWST

LLANIDLOES

LLANDOVERY

LLANWRTYD WELLS

BUILTH WELLSABERPORTH

SWANSEA

TENBY

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PEMBROKE

THE GUIDES’ GUIDE TO WALES

Wales offers visitors a wonderful land-scape. From thesnow-capped peaksof Snowdonia, to the mighty fortresscastles of Caernarfonand Caerphilly. Hereis a guide to the topten places to visit,from ten of Wales’best guides. Croeso i cymru!

WALES COASTAL PATH

Find more places to visit in Wales atwww.walesbestguides.com

PORTMEIRIONSNOWDONIA

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ST DAVID’S CATHEDRAL

ANGLESEY

CONWY CASTLE

THE ROYAL MINT

PONTYPOOL

LLANGOLLEN

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WREXHAM

NEWPORT

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CARDIFF CASTLECardiff’s great fortress dominates the city centre. Oncea medieval stronghold, what stands today is a Victorianneo-mediaeval extravaganza, says Blue Badge GuideFiona Peel. It is easy to imagine the 3rd Marquess ofBute and his designer architect William Burgesdiscussing the idiosyncratic design. Bute spoke 19languages and was passionate about symbolism andneo-mediaevalism. Every inch of the decorationreflects something of his interests. Thank heavens hewas the richest man around and could afford the goldleaf that abounds in the Arab Room. For a tour of theCastle contact: fiona@takemetowales.com

THE ROYAL MINT‘Follow the money!’ says Wales Blue Badge GuideRobert Llewellyn. The trail will take you to the RoyalMint in Llantrisant, South Wales. The behind-the-scenes tour explores the sheer complexity of mintingcoins: from designing, metal working and striking up to750 coins a minute. Follow the history of British coinmaking, find out how Isaac Newton spied oncounterfeiters, and strike your own coin. Get mintedwith a tour: robsuellew@btinternet.com

THE WALES COASTAL PATHWalk along one of Britain’s finest coastal paths.Roberta Roberts loves showing visitors its many wonderful viewing points and villages. Her favourite places include the inlets of Stackpole inPembrokeshire and the stunning Barafundle, thatPassport Magazine called a ‘visual overdose of beauty’.Further on is the amazing St Govan’s Chapel clinging to the rocks – the coastline’s ‘secret‘ as its military use means that it can only be accessed on certain days. To tour the coast contact Roberta at:rroberts088@btinternet.com

ST DAVID’S CATHEDRAL AND CITYIt may be the smallest city in the UK, but in mediaevaltimes one pilgrimage to St David’s was equivalent oftwo to Rome. It is worth a pilgrimage, says local guideDai Davies. There is something very special about thiscity, hidden away on the edge of West Wales. Thecathedral is almost invisible until you are very close,which was a good thing when the Vikings were on therampage! In the 6th century St David was looking for a place of quiet contemplation and you can still find ithere today. There are now good restaurants and even a brilliant bug farm where you can have grub-basedlunches. Walk out to wish at the well of St David’smother, St Non the patron saint of infirmities; shehealed my finger - or maybe it was the wonderfulcoastal path and air that killed the germs. Visit with Dai Davies: dtdavies21@hotmail.com

PORTMEIRIONWales has produced some amazing people, but nonequite like the creator of Portmeirion Village, says GuideAlison Hypher. Clough Williams Ellis was an architectwho made it his legacy to create a little Italianate townhugging the Welsh coastline. The evening light in thisvillage is truly magical; you can stay in the big hotel atthe bottom of the hill or in one of houses in the village,each with its own character. He left a painter’s paletteof colours on the houses and details of design todelight the eye. It is no wonder that the iconic 60s TVshow The Prisoner has immortalised this littlekingdom. Take time to visit his own garden just a fewmiles away at Plas Brondanw, with its vistas intoSnowdonia. Join Alison for a tour of Wales’ ‘littleItaly’:alisonhypher@yahoo.com

SNOWDONIATo come to Wales and not visit Snowdonia would be likegoing to Stratford and not seeing a Shakespearian play,says guide Noel Clawson. There is so much to

see. I always take visitors to Bettwys-y-Coed, which is the perfect place to stroll, hike or climb. If I haveyoung daredevils with me I go to Llechwydd slatemines as they can zip-wire along the longest, fastestline and then hear stories of the hardships endured by the slate quarry workers. For the less energetic, we take the easy way to the top of Mount Snowdon by train; it is fun and not as smug as announcing you walked all the way up. Visit Snowdonia with Noel: clawsonn@hotmail.com

ANGLESEYWe call it ‘the mother of Wales’: Mon Mam Cymru. The Romans knew it as their breadbasket. It’s alsohome to wonderful prehistoric sites, such as the burialchamber Bryn Celli Ddu. The geological formations onAnglesey are the earliest known in the UK. ModernAnglesey has something for everyone, a Sea Zoo, awonderful mural by Rex Whistler at Plas Newyd –home of the Marquis of Anglesey – a hidden garden atPlas Cadnant. To reach this farthest corner of Wales,Telford and Stephenson both built amazing bridgesover the Menai Straits. You should also make time toenjoy fantastic bird watching at South Stack or peoplewatching around the concentric walls of Edward I’sBeaumaris Castle. Let Guide Lynne Bellis show youthis magical island: lynnebellis@btinternet.com

CONWY TOWN AND CASTLEConwy never disappoints, says Wales Guide CaroleStartin. From the imposing World Heritage Sitemedieval castle and intact town walls, to Britain’ssmallest house on the ancient quay – where there liveda 6’ 2” fisherman (presumably with a stoop). Tucked inthe town wall is Llywelyn’s Hall, where it is thoughtthat Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, mediaeval Prince of Wales,once lived. The bustling High Street has nurtured andmaintained Plas Mawr – the UK’s best preserved TudorTown House – plus an Art Deco pub that has preservedmany of its 1920s features and serves local beers. You can see why it’s wonderful or ‘bendigedig‘, as we say in Wales. Join one of Carole’s tours:funtourswales@hotmail.com

BODNANT GARDENSIt is difficult to pick out a favourite garden as you couldeasily do a five day tour of Welsh gardens, says localGuide Anne Harris. Bodnant is a magnificent Victorianexplosion of colour and planting. It was the first gardento create an amazing laburnum arch that bursts intolurid yellow in early summer. Love it or hate it, it isamazing. It is the studied carelessness of the gardenthat engages the heart and eye. It all looks so naturalbut is the work of generations, enriched by theaddiction our ancestors had for plant collecting whenthey were exporting their goods of coal, slate and ironaround the world. Let Anne show you this garden:anne.harris@mac.com

PONTCYSYLLTE AQUEDUCTIn 1805, at the opening ceremony of the PontcysyllteAqueduct, over 8,000 people congregated under the structure known as the ‘stream in the sky,’ while the ‘great and the good’ crossed the aqueduct by horse-drawn barges to the sound of celebratorybrass bands. Nowadays the aqueduct – part of aneleven mile World Heritage Site – is the highestnavigable canal in the world, standing at 127 feet (37m) and 1007 feet (307m) in length. The aqueduct can be crossed on foot or by barge with only a rail or the edge of the water basin to prevent a deep dive to the river below. Combine a visit with walkingpart of this beautiful shaded and tranquil canaltowpath that was once a thoroughfare for commercialtrade. Brave the aqueduct with Sarah Jones:sarahdel@hotmail.co.uk

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IRON MENAHEAD OF STEAMIn 1695 Celia Fiennes travelled onhorseback for 2,000 miles acrossEngland. Riding side-saddle,Britain’s first female travel-writerchronicled a countryside of openfields and muddy, unsigned roads –a landscape unchanged since medieval times.Ceilia’s journey took her toCornwall, a county she described as‘very bleak and full of mines’ andtroubled by ‘great floods,overwhelm’d for a season of raines’.

For centuries Cornishmen hadrisked their lives in the darklabyrinths of copper and tin mines.The deeper the tutworkers andtributers dug, the bigger their risk ofbeing swept away by undergroundfloodwaters.

In 1712 the West Country

ironmonger Thomas Newcomenoffered salvation. He designed thefirst workable piston-driven steamengine, a machine that would ‘raisewater by fire’ from the dank mines.

The Newcomen engine signalledthe end of Celia Fiennes’ horse-powered England and the beginningof the age of steam. By end of the 1700s there were 2,000 steammachines operating across the country.

The Industrial Revolution began inBritain. Marc Zakian introduces usto the places and people thatcreated the modern world

Ironbridge over the River Severn

Newcomen Engine

Newcomenbuilt the first proper

working engine at theConygree Coalworks in theWest Midlands. The Black

Country Living Museum inDudley is home to a

working replica of theoriginal machine –

bclm.co.uk

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Abraham Darby III took over his grandfather’sCoalbrookdale foundry. In 1779 he built a 30-metre

cast-iron bridge across the River Severn

Coalbrookdale

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A BRIDGE TO THE FUTUREAbraham Darby I was a WorcestershireQuaker with a fascination for furnaces.In 1708, after years of trial and error,Darby discovered the secrets of smeltingiron in a blast furnace – perfecting theproduction of the metal that made theindustrial revolution.

Darby established an ironworks in theShropshire valley of Coalbrookdale –filling the kitchens of England withaffordable pots, pans, kettles and cutlery.Thomas Newcomen, who had struggledwith expensive and unpredictable brassfittings, powered his machines withDarby’s reliable iron cylinders.

Abraham Darby III took over hisgrandfather’s Coalbrookdale foundry. In1779 he built a 30-metre cast-iron bridgeacross the River Severn. The world’s firstiron bridge was so celebrated that thearea now takes its name.

This yearCoalbrookdale is

celebrating the 300th anniversaryof the death of Abraham Darby I.

The Ironbridge Gorge Museums tellsthe story of the Industrial Revolution in

a series of unique collections thatinclude a functioning Victorian town –

complete with shops, schools,craftsmen and steam engines –

ironbridge.org.uk

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WATT’S THE ANSWERIn the 1740s baby James Watt sat watching a boiling kettle inhis family kitchen on the Firth of Clyde, spellbound by thesteam forcing the lid to from the kettle top. These childhoodobservations inspired Watt to invent the steam engine.

This story is, of course, legend. Steam machines werepumping before Watt was born. But the myth of little Jamesand his mother’s kettle is so powerful that Watt and thesteam engine are inseparable.

Watt revolutionised the Newcomen engine by adding aseparate condenser boiler, making it five times moreefficient and – most importantly for thrift-mindedindustrialists – saving 75% on coal costs.

He also developed a reliable system for measuring thestrength of a steam engine; horsepower. In a world thatdepended on animals for transport and agriculture, peoplecould visualise a machine doing the work of 20 horses.

The engineer’s contribution to science and industry ismarked by our measurement of the rate at which electricityis generated and consumed: watts.

LUNATIC SCIENCEOnce a month during the 18th century a group of menwould meet by the light of the full moon. These naturalphilosophers, alchemists and entrepreneurs weredetermined to change the way we live.

The Lunar Society – jokingly known as ‘lunarticks’ – livednear the booming city of Birmingham. Members includedJames Watt, Matthew Boulton, the potter Josiah Wedgwoodand Joseph Priestley – discoverer of oxygen and inventor ofsoda water. The moon provided enough light for them tojourney home safely.

Matthew Boulton was a Brummie businessman whoinherited his father’s ‘toy trade’ business, making buckles,coins and medals. He introduced machine processing,worker specialisation and mass production, building the first modern factory and the largest industrial complex in the world.

Boulton invited James Watt to Birmingham and togetherthey built the finest steam engines of the age, including the Smethwick Steam Engine. Developed in 1779, it is the oldest working engine in the world and today is part of the Think Tank Museum in Birmingham –birminghammuseums.org.uk/thinktank

Boulton and Watt employed William Murdoch to pioneergas lighting. He developed a process for ‘cleaning’ coal gasand piping it to street lights, factories and homes.

The first gas lightingcompanies sprang up inLondon in 1812. Gas lamps allowednightlife to flourishand factories towork longerhours. The relicsof this industryare thegasometersfound acrossBritain and the2,000 gas lights still in use in London.

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Boulton invited James Watt toBirmingham and together they builtthe finest steam engines of the age

Smethwick engine

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James Watt

Clogs became popularin the Industrial Revolution.Strong, cheap footwear was

popular in the Lancashire mills(Lancastrians are known as

‘cloggies’). Clog dancing may havestarted with mill workers

syncopating foot taps to therhythmic sounds of the loom

shuttles.

A TALE OF SPINNINGMedieval England was full of spinsters – women whospun fleece into yarn. The industrial revolution wiped outthis cottage industry, leaving the etymological footnote ofa word to describe unmarried females.

In 1769 Richard Arkwright patented the spinning frame.This turned the fast flowing rivers of the Pennines intopower for mills. By combining water-powered machineryand semi-skilled sweated labour, Arkwright transformed amedieval trade into a manufacturing industry.

Families with children as young as seven worked atArkwright’s Lancashire and Derbyshire mills. Labouringin 13-hour shifts, workers were woken at 5.00am and thefactory doors closed by 6.00am – anyone left outside lost a

day’s pay.Arkwright opened the first steam driven mill onManchester’s Miller Street in in 1781. Four

decades later ‘cottonopolis’ had become thefirst city of mass production, with over 100

mills spinning a third of the world’scotton. Arkwright died a

knight of the realm with a fortune of £500,000 – around £7 billion today.

Cottonopolis quickly became ‘canalopolis’. A modernworld needed modern transport, the pack mule was sentpacking and replaced by the industrial canal. First camethe Bridgewater, built by the ‘Canal Duke’ of Bridgewaterin 1761 to ship coal to Manchester’s mills –halving the price of anthracite.

Soon thousands of mostlyIrish navigational engineers(navvies) were digging upa golden age of canalsthat boomed between1770 and 1830. Hugesums were investedas 4,000 miles ofcanals networkedacross Britain. But the canal’s reign wasbrief. On the horizonwas the iron horsemanof the apocalypse.

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Belper’s North Mill

Masson Millin operation

Masson Millfrom the River

Derwent Sir RichardArkwright

Belper Mill

Cromford Mill

North Mill at Darley 1868

Inside Belper’s East Mill

Trouble at MillIn 1779 a young textile

worker, Ned Ludd, smashed twoweaving looms. This protest gave

birth to the Luddites who destroyed themachines that threatened their skilled

jobs. Weavers burned mills andmachinery in Nottingham, Yorkshire and

Lancashire. The governmentresponded by sending in the army

and sentencing the Luddites toexecution andtransportation.

Derwent ValleyMills is a World Heritage

Site located along the RiverDerwent in Derbyshire. It

includes Cromford, Belper,Milford and Darley Abbey as wellas more than 800 listed buildings

including mills, workers’housing and canals –

derwentvalleymills.org

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Boxing Clever Brunel’s GWR Tunnel is at Box near

Bath. At nearly two miles long, it wascompleted in 1841. Some passengersfeared that the air pressure inside the

tunnel would be so dangerous it wouldkill them and chose to leave the trainbefore the tunnel and rejoin it on the

other side. According to legend, Bruneldeliberately aligned the tunnel so that

the rising sun shines through it onApril 9, Brunel’s birthday.

George Stephenson’sSafety lamp

Brunel

SS Great Britain Stephenson’sRocket was built in 1829.

The steam engine won theRainhill Trials, held by the

Liverpool and Manchester Railwayto choose the best design to powerthe railway. Today it is on display in

London’s Science Museum –(sciencemuseum.org). There is also

a working replica in theRailway Museum in York.

MAKING TRACKSRichard Trevithick was a Cornwallminer’s son with a fascination forsteam engines. His goal was todevelop Watt’s engines into high-pressure boilers that could power a rail engine.

In 1804 he realised his dream whenthe world’s first locomotive railwayjourney took place in the Pen-y-darronIronworks in Wales. The engine pulledfive wagons and 70 men on a 10 milejourney – the modern railway wasborn.

Trevithick’s revolutionary inventionwon him little acclaim and less money.The man who built the first railwayengine died penniless in a Kent hostel.

The Cornishman was followed bythe Stephensons. ‘Geordie’ GeorgeStephenson was an illiteratecollieryman who built the firstpassenger steam railway in the world;the Liverpool and Manchester Railwayopened in 1830. It was powered by thefamous Rocket locomotive, and themost advanced steam train of its daybecame the template for locomotivesfor the following 150 years.

Stephenson pioneered the maintrain routes across the north ofEngland, earning him the nickname‘the father of the railways’. His son,Robert Stephenson, continued thework, establishing himself as agentleman engineer and politician. HisWestminster Abbey funeral wasattended by 3,000 people, heralding

the age of the celebrity engineer.The superstar ofVictorian celebrity

engineers wasIsambard KingdomBrunel. A little over5ft tall in his stove

pipe hat, the cigar-smokingshowmanpioneered aseries ofincreasinglyaudaciousprojects.

TheThamesTunnel was the first to beconstructedunderneath anavigable river. Brunelworked alongside his father,supervising construction in the muddy depths. Isambard nearlydrowned when the tunnel accidentlyflooded. Completed in 1843, the tunnel is still in use, taking LondonOverground trains under the river at Wapping.

As chief engineer on the GreatWestern Railway, Brunel built one ofthe wonders of Victorian Britain. Herode on horseback for days to surveythe route; he designed most of thestations (including Paddington); heinsisted on building the longestrailway tunnel in the world at Box; hedemanded a double-gauge track sothat passengers would ride in totalcomfort, earning the GWR thenickname ‘God’s Wonderful Railway’.

But Brunel was not satisfied withtransporting passengers from Londonto Bristol. He wanted to take themacross the Atlantic. So, in 1843 he builtthe SS Great Britain, the firstpassenger steamship to cross the Atlantic and the largest in the world. Today, the great ironleviathan is preserved and open to visitors in Bristol docks (ssgreatbritain.org).

There is a theorythat the Geordies are

named after the railwaymanand inventor. George ‘Geordie’Stephenson developed the pit

lamp that became the symbol forminers in the North East. The

‘Geordie’ lamp was so popularthat people used its name

to refer to locals.

GeorgeStephenson’s railgauge of 4ft 8½in

became the standardgauge for the world’s

railways.

Media Partner

© P

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ics

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Call: 020 7942 4000 info@sciencemuseum.ac.uk

sciencemuseum.org.uk/robots ScienceMuseum #Robots

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The Great Exhibition

Faraday’s laboratory

To discover Britain’s industrial history with an expert Blue Badge Guidesearch www.britainsbestguides.org.uk selecting ‘Industrial heritage’ in thebox ‘Special Interest’.

Michael FaradayMatch girls strike

A BRIGHT IDEAThe second industrial revolution beganin a Mayfair basement. In the 1830s, in the Royal Institution’s laboratory,Michael Faraday invented the electricmotor – transforming electricity from a curiosity into a technology thatchanged the way we live.

Faraday was a self-educatedbookbinder who preferred readingbooks to binding them. He convincedthe gentleman scientist, Sir HumphreyDavy, to employ him as an assistant atthe Royal Institution. Historiansremarked that ‘Faraday was Davy’sgreatest discovery’ – no small claim, as Davy himself discovered fivechemical elements.

Faraday is recognised as one of thegreatest scientists of the century,defining the laws of electricity,magnetism and the properties of light.Every electric motor operating today isbased on Faraday’s discovery.

Faraday worked on the planning ofthe great wonder of the Victorian age;the Great Exhibition of 1851. Staged in a

20-acre glasshouse designed bygardener, Joseph Paxton, the ‘CrystalPalace’ in London’s Hyde Park, theexhibition was a celebration of thetechnology, wealth and prestige broughtto Britain by the industrial revolution.

Six million people visited, equivalentto no less than one quarter of the entire population of Britain. It was asymbol of the extraordinary progressseen in the Victorian Age. During the Queen’s reign Britain had gone fromhorsepower to steam power, fromcandlelight to gas and then electriclight, from oil paintings to photographsand on to moving pictures.

STRIKE IN A MATCHFACTORYDuring the 1800s, thousands of peopleleft the countryside for jobs in theindustrial cities. Many paid a heavyprice – toxic air, poor housing, longhours and dangerous machinery meantthat during the 1850s in Newcastle,Manchester and Liverpool the average

life expectancyfell by five years.

Some professions were poisonous. In the Victorian era mercury was used inhat-making to finish felt. Hat-makersexposed to the toxic metal developedtremors and tics – giving rise to theexpression ‘mad as a hatter’.

Another dangerous trade was ‘whitelead’, used in making tiles, ceramicsand cosmetics. So many young womenfell ill working in these finishingfactories that they became known as‘white cemeteries’.

Women and teenage girls working atthe Bryant and May factory in eastLondon regularly suffered from ‘phossyjaw’, a disease caused by exposure tothe yellow phosphorus used to tip thematch sticks. Symptoms includedswelling gums, brain damage and organfailure. In 1888 the matchgirls went onstrike for better pay and workingconditions. The company conceded, andsafeguarded the health of thematchgirls. It was a landmark on theroad to better welfare for workers in thenew industrial age.

The 1851 GreatExhibition featured

wonders from across theworld. It also exhibited

innovations that never caughton, including furniture madeof coal, a carriage pulled by

kites and false teeth on a hinge.

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Disney’s Aladdin has ‘landedtriumphantly in London’s WestEnd’ (Daily Telegraph). This‘shining, shimmering spectacle’ (Huffington Post) is everythingyou could wish for and more, andis dazzling audiences daily at thebeautiful Prince Edward Theatre’.It’s ‘sheer genie-us!’ (EveningStandard).

Breathtaking sets, astonishing specialeffects, over 350 lavish costumes –sparkling with over two millionSwarovski crystals – and a fabulous castand orchestra bring the magic of the

show to life on the West End stage.The extraordinary creative team is

led by director and choreographer,Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon,Dreamgirls). Music is by Alan Menken(Beauty and the Beast) with lyrics fromHoward Ashman (Beauty and the Beast),Tim Rice (The Lion King) and ChadBeguelin (Elf), who also wrote thebook. The show includes all the songsfrom the classic Academy Award-winning film including ‘Friend Like Me’, ‘A Whole New World’ and ‘Arabian Nights’.

The jaw-dropping set is a truetheatrical wonder, featuring 30ft

high palace gates and a carpet thattakes flight and leaves audiencesspellbound. Night after night, it’s one of the most complex technicalproductions ever seen in the West End,and it takes a staggering 100 people tobring the magic alive every singleperformance.

The lead roles of Aladdin and Jasmineare taken by Matthew Croke and JadeEwen, with Broadway’s Trevor DionNicholas making his London stagedebut as the Genie.

Experience the unmissable ‘theatricalmagic’ that is Aladdin.

Spectacular Aladdin COMES TO LONDON

ADVERTISING FEATURE

FACTS AND

LIELEGEN

16

Roland the Farter was a medieval flatulist. KingHenry II granted Roland an estate in Suffolk inreturn for performing one jump, one whistleand one fart at the King’s court every Christmas.

LaughingGas

The Con Con

Frogs living in Norfolk have a localaccent. Britain’s only colony ofnorthern pool frogs live in East Anglia.When researchers analysed recordingsof their cousins in Norway and Swedenthey discovered that the Norfolk frogshad a distinct regional croak.

Jane Seymour,third wife of KingHenry VIII, pickedout her weddingdress on the dayher predecessorAnne Boleyn wasbeheaded.

Speaking

in Toad

Ribbet

Ribbit

A Head

Arthur Furguson was an English con man. During the 1920s he ‘sold’ national monuments to American tourists,including Nelson’s Column for £6,000, Big Ben for £1,000 and a £2,000bargain, Buckingham Palace.

Furguson emigrated to the USA in 1925 where he promptly flogged theWhite House to a rancher for $100,000. When he tried to sell the Statue ofLiberty, the fraudster was arrested and jailed.

According to one investigator, however, there never was a Furguson. Thereare no records of his arrest, trial, or a grave in Los Angeles where hesupposedly died in 1938. The earliest reference to Furguson dates from the1970s. The legendary con man was, it seems, a big con.

FICTION FROM BRITISH HISTORY

ES,AND

NDS

In 1997 Brenda Eccles ofManchester put her dead

husband Malcolm's ashes into agiant egg-timer. It was his last

wish that his wife would think ofhim every time she boiled an egg.

E g g s t r o r d i n a r y

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In 1775 at a church in Winchesterthe widow Judith Redding removed

her clothes before she marriedRichard Elcock. This was a ‘smock

wedding’, an 18th century traditionsignifying that widowed brides

would not bring any old debts totheir new marriage.

17

NOTHING

In England there are 518 pubs called

The Red Lion

the most popular pubname in the country.

Start

The bridewore

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ofArt TRAVELThe

The Stour estuary is oneof the most atmosphericplaces in England

Sophie Campbellvisits the landscapesthat inspired ourgreat artists

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In a way it’s lazy. Why spend time looking for the most spectacular scenery tovisit – be it billowing Downs or industrial landscape – when our great paintershave already found it for you?

Not only are their subjects pretty well guaranteed to be visually interesting,there’s the thrill of recognition when a tree they painted is still standing or a riverstill tinkling along. Add to that the intriguing puzzle of woods now grown up oropen land built on, and it gives a sense of place – showing, quite literally, how ourcountry has developed.

Then there are the houses. Throughout history, artists have had an eye forpicturesque (read ‘affordable’) property, often deftly combining studio space withdomestic life. Whether one imagines Turner strolling along the seafront atMargate, or the febrile social life of the Sussex painters, or Constable’s modestbeginnings in Dedham Vale – artists’ landscapes make a wonderful starting pointfor a beguiling tour.

CONSTABLE’S EAST ANGLIAThe Stour estuary is one of the most atmospheric places in England, with huge,empty marshes and golden reed beds threaded with water and rustling withwildfowl. Further upstream, the river forms the border between Essex and Suffolkwhere a wealthy 18th-century corn merchant called Golding Constable ownedmills at Dedham and Flatford, and kept a ship at Mistley.

His son, John, would use the area as a subject for his famously large paintings.Any visit should include three key sites: Flatford Mill, made famous by The HayWain and a series of paintings; the village of East Bergholt, where he was born(although sadly the house is gone); and Dedham, where he went to the OldGrammar School and painted St Mary’s Church no less than 26 times.

The Hay Wain, John Constable John Constable

ARTYFACTS Constable immortalised Willy

Lott. The cottage where the farmerlived featured in some of the artist’sbest known paintings. Willy could

neither read nor write and,according to local legend, during his88 years never spent one night away

from his beloved home.

Finishing touchMake for Salisbury in Wiltshire andtake a walk out through the water

meadows for the wonderful view of thecathedral, all 404 feet of it, rising

skywards, painted by Constable onnumerous occasions.

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memorial window and Willy Lott’sgrave is in the churchyard. There’s agreat trail taking in all these sites onthe National Trust ConstableCountry website (you can walk fromManningtree railway station).

TURNER’S MARGATEThere are many parts of Englandpainted by JMW Turner. Beware,though, he was an arch-manipulatorof views for artistic purposes (take theFighting Temeraire, which, as LondonBlue Badge Guides will tell you, facesthe wrong way on the Thames).

Margate, on the shoulder of Kent,

became important to him when hewas sent there as a boy during hismother’s illness. The TurnerContemporary stands on the site ofthe boarding house owned by hislong-term mistress, Sophia Booth.

Stroll through the Old Town tocapture a little of the atmosphere of

Margate became important to Turner when he wassent there as a boy during his mother’s illness

Petworth

Margate and the Turner Gallery

Timothy Spall as the artist in Mr Turner

ARTYFACTS In 2006, Turner’s

The Fighting Temerairewas voted the British

people’s favouritepainting.

ARTYFACTS Turner would rub tobacco

juice, snuff and stale beeronto his canvases to createpainterly effects. He was

even known to spit on them.

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the Georgian seaport that Turner knew.Look for the shell-like sculpture of MrsBooth on the Harbour Arm where thesteamer arrived from London, thewide expanse of the Main Sands and ablue plaque on his former school,Coleman’s. Drive to the Isle of Thanet,whose skies he loved and whosestrikingly-ruined Reculver churchappeared in sketches and paintings.

WHISTLER’S THAMESNicholas Dimbleby’s statue of JamesMcNeill Whistler, on the corner ofBattersea Bridge and Cheyne Walk insouthwest London, is hidden by

foliage for half the year; peer throughsummer leaves to see the Americanpainter, artist’s bag at his feet,surveying his beloved river.

He painted the Thames and itsbridges almost obsessively. It was abridge that caused his downfall whenhe sued the critic John Ruskin for libelover his comments on Nocturne inBlack and Gold – The Falling Rocket.

Whistler was a true Chelsea denizen,living on Lindsey Street beforecommissioning his own studioresidence, the White House, on TiteStreet. He was bankrupted and had tomove out to a rented studio in TowerHouse, also on Tite Street.

Margate seashore

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Statue of Whistler

Finishing touch:You liked the paintings, now see the film. Mike

Leigh’s biopic, Mr Turner was partly filmed atPetworth House in Sussex, frequently visited by

Turner, who painted in an upstairs room you can visit.Its purpose-built art gallery has a number of his works.

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Battersea Bridge

LS Lowry – Going to Work

ARTYFACTS The Victorian art critic Ruskin hated Whistler’s

abstract canvasses, accusing him of ‘flinging apot of paint in the public’s face’. Whistler suedfor libel. The trial lawyer asked Whistler: “Did ittake you much time to paint the Nocturne in

Black and Gold? How soon did you knock it off?”Whistler replied: “Oh, I ‘knock one off’ in a

couple of days. “The labour of two days is that forwhich you ask two hundred guineas?” raged the

lawyer. “No,” said Whistler, “I ask it for theknowledge I have gained in the work of a

lifetime”.

Finishing touchSee Whistler’s bronze chest tomb inthe burial ground of St Nicholas’s

Church, Chiswick.

The White House no longer stands,but nearby at 101 Cheyne Walk is theoriginal fireplace painted in Symphonyin White, No 2: The Little White Girl. Allthis is about half an hour’s walkdownstream to Tate Britain, whereyou can see this painting and also oneof the notorious series, an oil ofBattersea Bridge called A Nocturne inBlue and Gold.

LOWRY’S SALFORDThe soaring glass and steel artscentre, The Lowry, sitting on SalfordQuays (across the water from theBBC), is a reminder of LaurenceStephen Lowry’s connections withthe city at the end of the ManchesterShip Canal (completed when he wasabout seven years old).

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Start here because it has a largecollection of his paintings – a good placeto debunk the ‘matchstick men’ labeland look at his huge body of work onthe industrial north west. You can still seethe handsome red brick and terracottafaçade of Peel Hall in Peel Park, where hestudied art at the Royal TechnicalCollege – now owned by the Universityof Salford.

Lowry was born in Stretford and thetown marks the artist’s birthplace with aplaque on the Old Trafford CommunityCentre. In 1910 he joined Pall MallProperty Company as a rent collectorand – despite his subsequent fame –worked full time for them until he retiredin 1952. Lowry painted at home late intothe night, keeping his day job secret –this only came to light after he died.

There is a second plaque at The Elmson Stalybridge Road in Mottram, hishome and studio from 1948. ThoughLowry claimed he ‘hated’ The Elms, helived there until his death in 1976.There is a bronze statue of the artist afew yards from his house and his grave– a modest stone memorial with across – can be seen at the SouthernCemetery in Manchester.

The Lowry is a good place to debunk the ‘matchstick men’ labeland look at his huge body of work on the industrial north west

The Lowry Centre, Manchester

ARTYFACTS Lowry’s collection of clocks in his

living room were all set at differenttimes; he told some people that this

was because he did not want toknow the real time; to others he

claimed that it was to save him frombeing deafened by theirsimultaneous chimes.

Finishing touchLowry fans might hare off north-east to

the Sunderland Museum, which has somewonderful Lowrys in its collection (lookout for Dockside Sunderland, painted1962) and then to the Lowry Trail in

Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Towner Art Gallery

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One of the biggestRavilious treats is theStore Tour at theTowner Gallery inEastbourne. Everysecond Saturday atnoon they slide outgreat racks ofpaintings and youcan spot severalRavilious works noton permanent display

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The artist Eric Ravilious grewup in Eastbourne and his

work evokes the utterlyEnglish landscape of Sussex

Finishing touchEssex is another good Ravilious pilgrimage spot. Look for the

blue plaque on Bank House in Castle Hedingham and visit GreatBardfield, home to an informal colony of artists – includingEdward Bawden and his wife, with whom Eric and Tirzah

Ravilious stayed at one time and who held ‘open house’ exhibitionsduring the 1950s. Also unmissable is the Fry Gallery in Saffron

Walden, which is free and open from April to October.

The artist Eric Ravilious grew up in Eastbourne and his work evokes the utterly English landscape of Sussex – and later Essex – the rollinglandscapes of the South Downs andthe paraphernalia of war.

One of the biggest Ravilious treats is the Store Tour at the Towner Galleryin Eastbourne.

Every second Saturday at noon they

RAVILIOUS’S EAST SUSSEXslide out great racks of paintings andyou can spot several Ravilious worksnot on permanent display. They areopening a major exhibition, Raviliousand Co: the Pattern of Friendship, from May 27 to September 17 2017, where most of his work will be on display.

Drivers can put together awonderful circuit that includes the

Long Man of Wilmington – chalkguardian of the South Downs onWindover Hill, with his long sticksmaking him look like a skier; Furlongs,the cottage home of his friend Peggy Angus and a magnet for artists;Firle Beacon (you can walk to bothfrom Glynde railway station); and of course the mighty chalk cliffs ofBeachy Head.

Beachy Head

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27

HEPWORTH’S ST IVESThere’s something magical about theBarbara Hepworth Museum andSculpture Garden in St Ives inCornwall; partly because of itscompactness, partly because of thegarden bursting with Cornish sub-tropical plants and punctuated by theorganic shapes of her sculptures; andpartly because it still has, after all theseyears, a sense of her presence.

Hepworth moved to St Ives withBen Nicholson and their young tripletsto escape wartime London and set up this studio at Trewyn in 1949,working here until her death in 1975.It’s a hop, skip and a jump from thestudio to Tate St Ives gallery and theartists’ studios and shops down on The Wharf.

For an art tour with an expert Blue Badge Guide visit: britainsbestguides.org

Barbara Hepworth Museum andSculpture Garden

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ARTYFACTSIn 2012 St Ives School in

Cornwall discovered that apaperweight on the head

teacher’s desk was an originalBarbara Hepworth sculpture

worth over £100,000.

Finishing touchAs a girl, Hepworth was mesmerised by Robin Hood’s Bay on

the coast of North Yorkshire where her family spent theirsummer holidays. That should be a good enough excuse to headnorth for a walk on the curving, rocky beach with its steep cliffs,then visit the Hepworth Wakefield (in her native city) and the

nearby Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

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HISTO

Blue BadgeGuide andTelegraphjournalistRichardMadden

takes us ona walk withdinosaurs

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RY THAT ROCKSIt was a schoolboy train journey through‘England’s Jurassic Park’ that turnedRichard Madden into a fossil fan. “Idetested school geology lessons,” he says.“What could be more boring than abunch of rocks.

“But during coastline rail trips fromhome in Cornwall to school in Sussex, Iwas seduced by the mysteries of theancient seashore. I’d heard aboutdinosaurs, thinking they lived somewherein the tropics, but was amazed to discoverthat they were preserved inside the cliffs

passing my train window. How fantastic!A slow-motion time machine on the southcoast holding the secrets of 250 millionyears of history.”

A decade later, Richard’s fascinationwith fossils brought him to CharmouthBeach. “I discovered an ammonite there.It’s humbling to come across thesemillions-of-years-old snail-like molluscsfrozen in stone – hold one in your hands and you will see the world in adifferent way. I’ve treasured mine athome ever since.”

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I’d heard about dinosaurs, thinking they lived somewherein the tropics, but was amazed to discover that they were

preserved inside the cliffs passing my train window

Durdle Door is the symbol of thecoast – a rock arch reaching outinto the seas that created itthrough time and erosion

Durdle Door

As the Telegraph newspaper’swalking correspondent, Richard haswalked and written extensively aboutthe South West Coast Path and the 95mile stretch from Devon to Dorset is aparticular favourite: “Our coastline hasmany personalities. An encounter withthe Jurassic Coast is like meeting anelder statesman and discovering theirlife story.”

Richard is now a Blue Badge Guideand has developed a series of tours tothe Jurassic Coast. “I like to start atGolden Cap, at 200 metres it’s thehighest point on the south coast,named after its golden sandstone rockthat glows in the summer sun. On agood day you can see for tens of milesin each direction.

“You’re looking down millions ofyears of history. Time is layered out incliffsides – to the west are red rocks thatwere formed in ancient deserts around250 million years ago. It’s the signaturestone of Devon where the cliffs werefirst studied, giving the name to ageological period, Devonian.

“And then there’s nearby Lyme Regis,the spiritual home of English fossilhunting. It’s a tradition that started withthe wonderful Mary Anning. Born in1799, she had no education, but taughtherself to read and write and went onto become an expert fossil hunter.

“She made her living by selling tocollectors. Hunting for fossils wasdangerous and in 1833 Mary was nearlykilled by a landslide that buried herblack-and-white terrier, Tray.

“Anning spent hours cleaning fossilswith nails and documenting her finds.She knew more about geology thanmany of the wealthy fossilists who

Lyme Regis beach

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traded with her, but it was always the gentlemen geologists who took the credit.

“Mary died aged only 48 and wasburied in a local churchyard. Today she is recognised as Britain’s firstpalaeontologist. She has a wholesection dedicated to her finds inLondon’s Natural History Museum andThe Royal Society named her as one ofthe ten British women who have mostinfluenced the history of science.

“She found many samples at LymeRegis’s ammonite ‘graveyard’ atMonmouth Beach. Walk here at lowtide and you will see thousands ofammonites scattered in the rocks.These 150 million year old fossils are

shaped like ram’s horns – some up to afoot long. You can pick them up fromthe shoreline, but never hammer themout of the rock or cliffsides. The besttime to find fossils is in winter whenyou get the biggest cliff erosions.

“Durdle Door is the symbol of thecoast – a rock arch reaching out intothe seas that created it through timeand erosion. The arch is a mile to thewest of Lulworth Cove, which in turn isfamous for its nearby fossil forest, theremains of an ancient submergedwoodland from Jurassic times. Thissurreal landscape is distinctive for itsstrange ‘algal burrs’ like gaping mouthswhere prehistoric tree trunks oncestood.

“East of Durdle Door is TynehamVillage, the coastline’s modern fossil.Time stopped here in 1943 when it wasclosed off for army training and thevillagers forced to leave. On someweekends you can visit the ghostvillage to see the church and ruined

houses trapped in time.“At the southerly tip of the Jurassic

Coast is the Isle of Portland, connectedto the mainland by Chesil Beach. Justabout every part of Britain contains apiece of Portland as the whitelimestone mined here has graced someof our finest buildings – from St Paul’sCathedral to the Liverpool waterfront.

“Excitingly, Portland is planning itsown real life Jurassic Park. The idea is tobuild a giant roof over one of theisland’s 40m deep quarries to create adinosaur-themed museum. ThisJurassic project would be an inspiringsymbol for a coastline that turned mefrom a bored schoolboy into a keenamateur fossilist and tourist guide. TheJurassic Coast is Britain’s own timemachine. Visit and be transported.”

Lulworth Cove Mary Anning

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For a tour with Richard Madden go towww.richardmadden.co.ukTweet him @GuideUKSouth

Lyme Regis is thespiritual home of English fossilhunting

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Mary Carrollwalks us throughthe suffragettes’struggle to winthe vote

THE MARCH

It was Mary Poppins who radicalisedMary Carroll. “I remember watchingthe film on TV as a child and beingfurious,” she recalls. “It hadn’t occurredto me that there was a time whenwomen couldn’t vote. Mrs Banks, thefilm’s suffragette mother, became mychildhood hero – she was out on thestreets belting out her ‘SisterSuffragette’ protest song anddemanding votes for women.”

Mary’s synchronicity with the

suffragettes continued when shestarted working as an actress. “I keptbeing cast as Emmeline Pankhurst” shesays. “I played her in street theatreshows, educational plays, communityperformances – Mrs Pankhurst and mewere destined to keep meeting.”

When Mary qualified as a BlueBadge Guide in 2010, she once againturned to her suffragette alter ego. “Asa history guide I was keen to tell thestory of women’s struggle for

emancipation. I wanted to bring thecampaigners to life so I teamed upwith two other Blue Badge Guides –Moira Dearnley and CatherineCartwright – to develop an ‘interactivewalk’ combining guiding with scenesand characters – a cross between streettheatre and history.

“Our ‘walk’ covers a decade ofhistory in one and a half hours. We tellthe story of how women won the vote,the tactics they used and the

personalities involved – all done withfast moving scenarios, songs and jokes.

“We begin with one of the mostnotorious incidents in women’ssuffrage, unfurling a copy of the iconicpainting The Rokeby Venus outside theNational Gallery. In March 1914 MaryRaleigh Richardson entered the galleryand slashed the painting seven timeswith a meat cleaver.

“We read Mary’s defiant statement:‘Emmeline Pankhurst is the most

beautiful character in modern history.So, I tried to destroy the picture of themost beautiful woman in mythology.’Then we slash the copy of thepainting. The crowd is both amazedand shocked, particularly when we tellthem that that following the incidentwomen were forbidden to enter theBritish Museum unless accompaniedby a man!

“The picture slashing often attractsthe attention of the police. They seeour costumes and banners and thinkwe are going to start a demonstration.We ask them if they will join us for thevotes for women march – our irony isnot always appreciated.

“Trafalgar Square has been thebackdrop to many of the greatmoments in political history. In 1908Mrs Pankhurst defiantly clamberedonto Nelson’s Column and urged hersupporters to ‘rush the House ofCommons’. We give out copies of herrallying leaflet to inspire our crowd.

“This is followed by a sceneillustrating women training forprotests. We ‘practise’ throwing stonesat windows – something MrsPankhurst never mastered – and drawclandestine chalk messages on thepavement – a quick way of alertingwomen to a rally.

“At a post-box on NorthumberlandAvenue we stage an act of defiancefrequently used by individual

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OF PROGRESS

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suffragettes – setting fire to aletterbox. They would pour in petroland throw in a match – apologies tothe postmen in the West End whohave come across cardboard propmatches on their rounds.

“The postal service was used toprotest the Prime Minister’sopposition to the women’smovement. Two suffragettes turnedthemselves into ‘human letters’addressed to Asquith, but the policeblocked them from being ‘delivered’to Number 10.

“Outside Scotland Yard we handout song sheets so everyone can learnthe Women’s March. ‘Shoulder toShoulder, Friend to Friend’ has a veryhigh bit in the middle – we joke thatit was written so that men couldn’tsing it.

“Parliament Square is where wefollow the story of the darkestmoment in the fight for women’s

votes. In November 1910, a billreached Westminster to give the voteto some one million women. PrimeMinister Asquith quashed the billand 300 women descended onWestminster in defiance. Some 200 ofthem were physically assaulted in asix-hour struggle with the police.

“There is evidence that the PrimeMinister encouraged the police tobrutalise the women. One officerpulled up a woman’s skirt and threwher into the crowd shouting ‘treather as you wish’. The Daily Mirrorfeatured a picture of a woman on theground surrounded by men andpolice. The government demanded itbe removed from the front page.

“The protest became known asBlack Friday. Three women died as aresult of injuries from the policeaction including Mary Clark,Emmeline Pankhurst’s sister.

“In Parliament Square we mark

the victory for women’s rights. In1918 Westminster passed an actgranting the vote to eight millionwomen over the age of 30. Thefollowing year Nancy Astor becamethe first woman MP to take her seatin parliament. 2018 will be the 100thanniversary of women’s suffrage.”

In February, this year Mary andher team donned their costumes tolead the women’s march in London.“We need to protect our rights andmake sure that women across theworld get the vote. What thePankhursts did is, unfortunately, asrelevant today as it was a centuryago. Our walk celebrates theirstruggle and reminds people that thefight is not yet over.”

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Find out about the suffragette walks atwww.womenonthewalk.co.uk or visitwww.britainsbestguides.org

There is evidence that the Prime Ministerencouraged the police to brutalise the women

Black Friday Ada Wright Emmeline Pankhurst addresses crowd

Suffragettes demonstrating outside the Police Court

The Women’s March 2017

Jeff began guiding at the Houses of Parliament in2011 and leads tours in German as well as English.He is passionate about the building andrecommends it as a ‘must-visit’ attraction. “ThePalace of Westminster is probably London’s mostrecognised landmark. It is home to one of theoldest and most influential institutions in theworld. Many visitors come from countries whosesystems of government are modelled on ours.

“Britain is rich in sites of historical and culturalinterest, but Parliament is unique in also being thesetting for current political events. The tour is fullof highlights, which could be the beauty of theinteriors, the history, or a connection with lastnight’s news on the television. My favourite roomis Members Lobby. Being next to the Commons, itis easy to imagine it crowded with backbenchers,ministers and whips. Visitors like to see the pigeon-holes with all 650 MP’s names on display.”

Much of the building’s appeal comes from its quirky traditions and from Jeff’s experience, therituals surrounding the State Opening are alwayspopular. “For example, since the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, the Yeomen of the Guard search thecellars before every State Opening, and also amember of the Commons is sent to BuckinghamPalace as a hostage against the safe return of the Queen.”

Guiding in English can be challenging asgroups often consist of different nationalities withdiffering language abilities. “Guiding in a foreignlanguage is easier, as everyone is likely to havethe same level of comprehension.” And thequestion Jeff is most frequently asked? “Peopleoften ask what would happen if the Queenrefused to give assent to a Bill. No monarch hasrefused assent for over 300 years, so if it happenednow it would cause a constitutional crisis!”

German-born Jeff Chalker spent 18 months studying tobe a professional Blue Badge Guide. Having qualified in2010, he says, “I’ve been learning to guide ever since!”

Blue Badge Guided Tours of the Houses of Parliament are available every Saturday and on most weekdays between late July and early October.

To book tickets go to www.parliament.uk/visit or call 020 7219 4114.

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