Walking Through History - Birth of Industry

Good morning, now Tony is going to look at the roots of the Industrial Age in Britain.  Tony goes on a forty-mile walk through the Peak District and the Derwent Valley.  The run time for this episode is 47:29.  The episode is called The Birth of Industry and he is going to encounter incredible landscapes.  You can find the link for the documentary here.

Tony begins in Bakewell and takes in what remains of the beginnings of industrial Britain.  He follows the river and learns about the power of water and travels through the mill towns.  He stops at Cromford and follows the local canal.  Eventually, he makes his way to Belger.  Tony finishes his journey at Derby, a great railroad city.  The Industrial Revolution changed the way people lived and was a huge leap forward for mankind.  It began with a simple concept: mass production, something that carries on to the present day.

Bakewell used to be a farming community, so Tony wanted to learn about the community before the Industrial Revolution.  However, things were beginning to change for its residents.  Tony begins his walk with a snack: a Bakewell Pudding.  He learns the difference between a Bakewell Tart and a Bakewell pudding.  After grabbing his snack, Tony heads on up to Ashford in the Water and meets a local farmer.  This local farmer and his family have been farming for generations since the Medieval Times.  Tony meets Tom Brocklehurst, he is a fifth-generation sheep herder.  Tom remembers bringing the sheep to the sheep wash bridge.  Every year, the sheep would be brought to the bridge to be washed.  Sheep were washed to get a better price for the wool.  Everyone in the village brought the sheep out for a bath.  Tony is appreciative of this visit.

Leaving Ashford, Tony takes in the landscape before him.  Before the Industrial Revolution, the more land you owned, the more you could make money.  This area also had lead which was mined.  Lead came behind wool in dominating the British Economy.  Lead was used for almost everything and Tony takes in the ruins of a Victorian lead processing factory.  Lead was big business in Great Britain for a time.  After learning about lead and lead mining Tony continues on his way.  He takes in the sight of Hadden Hall and talks about how the Hall is rented out to generate more money.  Day one ends and on Day Two Tony is going to look for why the Industrial Revolution began in the Derwent Valley.

Tony walks along the Why River and learns about how water power impacted the Industrial Revolution.  He visits Cordwell Mill.  It is still used today as a flour mill.  It continues to harness water power.  At one point it was a sawmill.  Tony goes into a place that people rarely see, the place where the water comes into power the mill.  The river powers all four floors of the mill.

Eventually cotton was starting to replace wool as the choice for clothing.  If someone could come up with a way to weave cotton on a massive scale, they could make a fortune.  Tony makes his way up the High Tor and takes in the landscape before him.  After taking in the scenery, he makes his way to the next village and visits a historic cotton mill.  He meets Bob Faithorn and learns about the genius behind the mill.  Eventually, he invented a spinning machine to spin multiple spools of thread.  He built a large mill and he also built housing for his workers.  The houses had gardens and pig sties.  Tony turns in for the night on Day 2.  What else does Tony learn about this village?  What else does he learn about the Industrial Revolution in the Peaks?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more.

Oh wow, the scenery was particularly spectacular on this walk. There were plenty of hills, valleys, and forested areas.  I enjoyed Brian Blessed participation in this documentary, but it would have been cool to see Timothy West too because I know he enjoys canals.  This would be a very good episode for a history class about the Industrial Revolution because Tony tells a good story about the start of the Industrial Revolution.