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00:02Every year, millions of us flock to the houses and gardens of the National Trust.
00:09Taking a step back in time to delve into our history.
00:14When you see something forgotten for thousands of years, that's quite amazing.
00:19Whether in the grandest residence.
00:21This is the kind of room you walk into and you sort of go, oh my goodness.
00:25Or on a windswept island.
00:28Big moment for this little guy.
00:29That's what you want to see.
00:32But out of sight is a hidden world.
00:35Very few people, this whole world can go behind the scenes and you're one of them.
00:40Where an army of dedicated experts.
00:42I have never seen anything like this, it's absolutely bonkers.
00:46Are battling to save treasured objects.
00:48I've not yet smashed anything.
00:50Don't say that.
00:52Am I going to have to be here all day like this?
00:54Meow.
00:56Making new discoveries.
00:57How exciting.
00:59Look at that.
01:00Oh my goodness.
01:02That tell the history of us all.
01:05These objects still speak if you listen hard enough.
01:15This time, life in the age of industry.
01:20That's pretty grim.
01:22Preserving the cotton mill, where machines spun fortunes for the few and misery for the many.
01:29Industrial workforces are ripe for revolution.
01:32And the battle to save the real life hobbit holes.
01:37What I don't like is when people call them caves.
01:40Where ordinary families carved out their lives.
01:43These weren't fancy homes.
01:45We're telling the story of working class people.
01:48And we're showing how important their place in our history is.
02:02Lying in a lush Cheshire Valley, beside the banks of the river Bolin, is a building that changed the course
02:10of history.
02:15Quarry Bank Mill.
02:22You ready Jane?
02:23Yep, ready.
02:26We're going to start to eat, Jane, can't we?
02:29So we're in the heart of the mill, in the middle of the industrial process.
02:33Let's go up.
02:36Once part of one of the largest cotton empires in the world, looking after this mill is more than just
02:43a job for curator Katie.
02:46Quarry Bank Mill for me is really fascinating.
02:48I grew up in mill town in the northwest, so my heritage is in this room.
02:54And to be the person who helps to look after it and helps to tell its stories now, it's incredibly
02:59special.
03:01Quarry Bank's story begins at a pivotal time in world history.
03:07The Industrial Revolution.
03:11We say at Quarry Bank that at this moment, society stood at a turning point.
03:16Everything people knew about the way that they had lived was about to change.
03:22Machines are replacing people for the first time.
03:25So it's also a story of evolution, of development, of adaptation.
03:29And Quarry Bank sits in the middle of that.
03:31Places like Quarry Bank change the world.
03:39The change began in the 18th century, when spinning cotton was fast evolving from a cottage industry.
03:48One man who rode this rising tide of industrialization was Samuel Gregg.
03:55Samuel Gregg was born in Ireland, and he moved to Manchester aged eight to work in his uncle's cotton business.
04:02And by the time he was 25, he was producing cotton at his own mill.
04:09Quarry Bank.
04:12Powered by the River Bolin, raw cotton went in one end, and cotton yarn came out the other.
04:22Across four floors of cutting edge machinery, cotton was cleaned, carded and spun, including the most important machine of all,
04:33the spinning mule.
04:37It's the reason that our founder Samuel Gregg built Quarry Bank mill.
04:41Because the spinning mule had been introduced, it was such a game changer, if you will.
04:46The spinning mule is one of our showpieces.
04:48It's something that a lot of people travel a very long way to see.
04:53The mule could twist thick cotton fibre into yarn faster than ever before.
05:00It's got 560 spindles on it, so that's how many threads it can make in one time.
05:07This mass production revolutionised textile manufacturing, making cotton fabrics not just the preserve of the wealthy.
05:18With cheaper cotton, the middle classes could now emulate high-class fashions.
05:24I think it really encompasses that idea of industrial Britain making things on a big scale and selling out to
05:33Europe and the world.
05:36Still producing yarn for heritage tailors today, Quarry Bank's mule is among the last still working in Britain.
05:46But keeping this antique workhorse going is a full-time job.
05:52If we weren't to maintain it, it would be a disaster. Ultimately, we risk losing the machine.
06:00To prevent the mule being put out to pasture, once a year, the doors are shut and it undergoes a
06:07full service.
06:10A delicate operation. The team gets just 48 hours before the floor is open to visitors again.
06:18You ready, Jane? Yep, ready.
06:22The first challenge is to remove the kilometre of cotton thread criss-crossing the mule.
06:30So we'll set the motor going.
06:32Fortunately, technical demonstrator Rex speaks the mule's language.
06:38So we're going to disconnect the slubbing gear, which allows it to feed the cotton forwards.
06:42What we want to do is to bring the carriage back out, but not feed the cotton forwards.
06:47That will break all the threads and give us full access to the machine.
06:51You ready, Jane? Yep, ready.
06:58This will be Rex's 21st annual mule service.
07:04Being of a certain age, I could have retired some years ago and I don't want to.
07:07I came to Quarry Bank Mill as a visitor and I found the place just so amazing.
07:12And I recall saying to my wife, I wouldn't mind doing this for a few years.
07:16It's one of the best jobs in the world.
07:18Love it.
07:22Now, a new generation are falling for the mule's charms, including Elizabeth.
07:29Now, you've not done this before. No.
07:31So I'm going to give you that.
07:33Ooh, scary.
07:34I want you to undo that first.
07:35I am 23 years old.
07:38So I started at 19.
07:39Ah, there we go.
07:40They asked me at the interview why I wanted to work here and I genuinely said,
07:44it's because I love mills.
07:47I would say that I am, yeah, a bit of a mill geek.
07:50And we'll do the same with that one.
07:52Spinning mule's one of my favourite machines.
07:54It's so big and I find that quite intimidating almost.
07:59I find it quite awesome.
08:00You kind of get a sense of power from running them and being able to run them, but he's quite
08:05satisfying.
08:06So I'm going to let you do that one.
08:07Oh, no.
08:09It's all part of passing the skills on.
08:11So when I move on at some stage, it's left in safe hands.
08:15For now, Rex needs all hands on deck to get the mule running again before visitors return.
08:23So you don't give your disciples an easy ride then, eh?
08:26Oh, no.
08:27Not at all.
08:29And I'll shout at them.
08:30Just the belt.
08:32Just the belt.
08:37Inventions like the spinning mule spurred on the Industrial Revolution, transforming Britain.
08:45It's a period of huge technological innovation.
08:48And what makes it so fascinating is so much of what we see happening historically is happening today.
08:57As workforces were gradually replaced by technology, mill owners were making big profits, but at a huge human cost.
09:06You've got raw cotton coming from the Americas, grown at first by enslaved workers in the southern states, shipped to
09:13Liverpool and then transported into Manchester.
09:17And in British mills, hundreds of thousands of workers toiled, turning the raw cotton into cloth 12 hours a day,
09:27six days a week.
09:33Today, a new acquisition has arrived at Quarry Bank that tells the story of just one worker, but holds the
09:42hidden history of the lives of many others.
09:46So it's 1785.
09:49So that's one of the earliest ones, isn't it?
09:51It is.
09:53This is an apprentice indenture, and it signs Thomas Payne, a 13-year-old boy, into indentured service in the
10:01mill.
10:04Child labour was very important to mills in the early Industrial Revolution, and they came from either the workhouse or
10:12families that couldn't look after them anymore.
10:14They were the poorest children in society.
10:17Many were orphaned and were dependent on the parish to look after them.
10:23In need of labour, mill owners like Samuel Gregg were more than happy to take them off the parish's hands.
10:32Greg was able to find children and present this as an opportunity to learn the skilled trade.
10:41Some of them were as young as nine or ten years old.
10:47The noise and the grime and the heat and the dust, you know, coming from the countryside, as many of
10:53them did, they'd have walked in here and it must have felt like walking into the bowels of hell.
10:59After they arrived, the children signed a legally binding indenture contract, forcing them to work at the mill until early
11:09adulthood.
11:11They're quite poignant documents really, aren't they?
11:13You may not have even understood what was going on.
11:16All that matters is that he has signed his mark.
11:22This mark matters even more today, as so little evidence of the lives of the apprentices survives.
11:30There's a real imbalance between what we know about the Greggs and what we know about the ordinary working people,
11:36people like Thomas Payne.
11:38Now they have his indenture, Thomas's story can begin to be told.
11:44Now, as opposed to a faceless number of people, we have a name, we have a person that we can
11:51place here.
11:52And that's why it's so important to cherish this document and to ensure its survival.
11:58But this precious paperwork is currently too fragile to display.
12:04It's almost in two, isn't it?
12:06There's a little bit of damage on that fold.
12:09The indenture is in fairly poor condition.
12:12It's got several tears and it's just about in one piece.
12:16So we really do need to carry out some conservation work on it.
12:25Today, Conservator Sharon is taking on the task of making sure this contract is still binding.
12:32So there's a very large tear that goes nearly the whole way of this fold line.
12:39There is the real chance that this part of the document could fall off.
12:45First, she must iron out the wrinkles in the deteriorating document.
12:51I'm just very, very gently unfolding.
12:57It's delicate operation.
12:59I don't want to hastily unfold any area and cause further damage.
13:06Sharon's plan is to repair the tears, but this comes with its own risks.
13:12You might use an adhesive that's too wet and if there's any surface dirt left within that paper,
13:17that may then cause little tide marks around where the stain is.
13:22First, the paper itself needs a deep clean, for which Sharon has a trick up her sleeve.
13:29As this document is a little bit fragile in places, I'm going to use some grated eraser to clean it,
13:36which is a nice gentle way of cleaning.
13:40I'm using a fine nutmeg grater.
13:43If you decide to grate your own erasers, be careful of your fingers.
13:46It's very easy to grate your fingers and bleed on things.
13:52So I'm just going to sprinkle these onto the surface.
13:57And then I'm going to use a soft pad with some linen over the top.
14:06And you can see these gratings becoming grey as they pick up the dirt,
14:11which is exactly what I want to see at this point.
14:16But it'll take more than TLC to fully bring Thomas Paine's story to life.
14:24Every time we pick up a new person to research, you get emotionally attached to them.
14:29Even if you don't know a lot about them, it makes them more real.
14:32So we would like to find out a bit more about Thomas.
14:39As the workers of Britain swapped fields for furnaces and cottages for terraces, a new urban world was emerging.
14:49The Industrial Revolution touches every part of life.
14:53The poorest workers essentially living in slum conditions, in the smog and the smoke.
14:58There's pollution everywhere.
15:00Nature and green spaces have often been wiped from these cities to make way for more factories, more warehouses.
15:11Yet despite the fast rate of urbanisation, on the edge of the industrial black country, a working class community was
15:20living a life harking back to an older age.
15:26Morning, Val.
15:27Good morning, good morning, good morning.
15:28Here we go again then. Another day at the office, eh?
15:34Carved into the sandstone of this Staffordshire hillside are a cluster of unique homes.
15:43We're at what we call the rock houses.
15:45What I don't like is when people call them caves.
15:49Right, let's get a little bit of light in here.
15:52Ah, that's better.
15:56These real life hobbit holes, each with a bedroom and a parlour,
16:00were lived in right up until the 1960s.
16:05I missed the fire lighting at the Girl Guides.
16:08Didn't get the badge.
16:10Today, it's volunteer Val who keeps the home fires burning.
16:17Some people say, well, when were they built?
16:20And I have to try to explain.
16:23They actually were formed.
16:25Millions of years ago, there might have been a tiny hole that actually got bigger and bigger and bigger.
16:30The eddy motion of the wind.
16:32And then it becomes a cave.
16:34And then eventually man comes along with tools.
16:37And a round cave becomes a square room, which becomes a house.
16:42If you needed a bit more space, you just chisel out a bit in the wall and make a bedroom.
16:48Here, we've got the washing machine.
16:51Here, we've got the tumble dryer.
16:53And over here, we've got the vacuum cleaners.
16:57Friday night was always bath night.
16:59And it went in age order, so dad first, then mum, then the children in age order.
17:04So the baby went in the dirtiest water, of course.
17:08Hence, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
17:11You can hear Mrs Fletcher saying, I thought I had four children, I only got three now.
17:15Oh, the little one's in with the carrots tonight.
17:22The earliest known inhabitant of Kinva's rocky residences lived here in the 1600s.
17:29Margaret of the Fox Earth.
17:31I think she must have been quite a character.
17:34Local folklore suggests she was a wise woman, or healer, with a reputation as curious as her name.
17:43She was treated with suspicion because of the times of a woman living on her own.
17:47People might have thought she was a bit of a witch.
17:49I would say a white witch.
17:52By the 18th century, the caves had been transformed into conventional homes, lived in by locals.
18:01From farm labourers and washerwomen, to broom makers, gamekeepers and iron workers.
18:10As well as a rock roof, the caves came with rock bottom rents, compared to more expensive cottages in nearby
18:19villages.
18:20It was quite a community.
18:22Out here would have been full of vegetables, would have been orchards, there would have been chickens and goats.
18:27Reasonably self-sufficient.
18:30It was a busy life, a hard life, but probably better in the middle of the black country at the
18:36same time.
18:36When they say, in the black country, it was red at night and black in the daytime.
18:42Whereas here, you open the shutters and you've got greenery and a lovely view, and some lovely clear air.
18:51But today, nature is the biggest threat to these homes.
18:57One of the problems that we have is you are fighting damp, constantly.
19:02There's all the rocks on top that are full of water, and they drizzle down eventually.
19:07Keeping an eye out for leaks is volunteer Sharon.
19:11The ceilings at the moment are particularly bad.
19:15You can see where the rain has come through.
19:18We're working with a building that's made out of a porous substance.
19:22So we have this constant battle to prevent the deterioration of everything.
19:30Fighting this threat...
19:32We've all got a job to do.
19:34More than one.
19:35..are an elite squad of volunteers.
19:38Ladies, can we start bringing some of the equipment through, please?
19:42..on a mission to show the damp who's boss.
19:46We've absolutely got the A-team here today.
19:49Yes, we've got Mavis, we've got Sally.
19:52Coming through, Mavis. Don't make any sudden moves.
19:55But this A-team need to bring their A-game.
19:59They only have a short window of opportunity
20:01while the houses are closed to the public.
20:04It is quite a lot of pressure, and it's non-stop.
20:07We have a deadline because, obviously, the houses are shut
20:10and they need to be done for the spring open-up.
20:14The first job we have to do is clear a section of the room
20:17so that we've got the walls and ceiling exposed,
20:20and that way we can sweep them down.
20:23Mavis, hold these steps cos I'm going up again.
20:26I'm here.
20:28But over-enthusiastic cleaning can also be a problem.
20:32Just doing it really gently because, otherwise,
20:35the ceiling's going to come down.
20:37We don't want that. We're in enough trouble as it is.
20:41The team start in Fletcher Cottage,
20:45named after Sarah and Joe Fletcher,
20:47who called it home for over 50 years in the late 1800s,
20:53and who, for half a century,
20:55waged their own war against the damp.
20:59Currently, I am on my knees,
21:01cleaning all the mould in this nice, lovely wash basin.
21:05So, trying to get into all of these edges.
21:09The mould just likes to find somewhere to grow.
21:15Here, you can see the discolouration, there's a white bloom.
21:19And, obviously, if you leave it untreated,
21:21the mould would just build up
21:23and, eventually, the furniture would just disintegrate, really.
21:29Often, when I'm working here, I think of Mrs Fletcher,
21:31who would have done very similar jobs.
21:34Obviously, she would have cooked, prepared meals,
21:37she'd have cleaned, she'd have swept the floors.
21:39It's nice to think that we're, in a way,
21:42still looking after her house.
21:49Though some stories have stood the test of time,
21:53when the last families moved out of the rock houses in the 1960s,
21:58Kinva's history started to crumble.
22:02This is Holy Austin Rock.
22:04In its heyday, it was a virtual rabbit warren
22:07with a dozen families living in it.
22:09It's difficult to believe, now that nature has taken over again,
22:12that not much more than a generation ago,
22:14there were buildings here with tiled roofs and tidy gardens.
22:19If the caves are ever to be restored,
22:21a lot of money has got to be found.
22:22But it's really a question of how many people think they're worth saving.
22:29Then, in 1989, the National Trust took on the houses
22:34and began restoring them.
22:36They set about recreating every detail,
22:39from the furniture down to the fixtures and fittings.
22:44I love them because I think it shows, for hundreds of years,
22:48we as a nation have loved looking at how other people live their lives.
22:52And that can be a great country house,
22:54but it can also be something nestled in the nook of red sandstone.
23:01In 2012, work began on the last house to be restored,
23:07named Martindales, after the local postman, Harry Martindale,
23:12who once lived there.
23:15But today, it's still missing one crucial feature.
23:21We've been looking for a range for Martindales for a number of years now,
23:26and it was that missing piece, that missing part of the puzzle.
23:29It would have been your oven, where you heated hot water,
23:33you would have used it to dry your clothes.
23:36It was at the heart of the home.
23:42Today, rangers Alex and John have a special delivery for the postman's cottage.
23:49Am I right that side?
23:50A donation from a lifelong fan of Kinva, Brian.
23:55We used to go to Kinva with my parents.
23:58Me and my brother used to run through the ferns,
24:00which were as tall as we were.
24:02I love it.
24:03It's been tight down that bit.
24:05It was.
24:06Brian has owned this antique cooking range for several years.
24:10It was something I came across on a demolition job.
24:14It needed restoration.
24:15It had been behind hardboard 50, 60, 70 years.
24:20Keen to preserve it for the future,
24:23he offered it to the rock houses.
24:26It's something I've cherished, and it's time to find it a permanent home.
24:31Got that there.
24:31As long as I haven't got to carry the oven, which is the heaviest part of that,
24:35I'll be quite happy.
24:38You alright with that?
24:39Yeah.
24:39He was right.
24:40It is very heavy.
24:43Chris, it's a small thing.
24:45I was trying to figure out how it all goes together as well.
24:47It's like a big Meccano set.
24:50Oh yes.
24:50A lot better that side.
24:51Oh, look at that.
24:52That's amazing.
24:53It needs quite a bit of brickwork for it to look what it's supposed to look like,
24:57and it'll be good for another 125 plus years, hopefully.
25:01Oh, yeah.
25:01There we go.
25:03Oh, look at that.
25:04It's going to look amazing when it's all together.
25:09The rock houses are just one of the ongoing conservation projects at Kinver Edge.
25:17Behind them lies 44 hectares of rare lowland heath,
25:22a landscape that has survived the grip of the Industrial Revolution.
25:29Lowland heath has become a really rare habitat now in Britain.
25:32There's only about 20% left of what there was 200 years ago.
25:35So, for us to have this, like, little island left in the Midlands,
25:39it's almost like an intensive care unit for so many really rare and important species.
25:46You can be walking out on the heath and see adders, grass snakes, slow worm, common lizard,
25:51tree pipits and garden warblers in the scrub and in the heather,
25:54pantaloon bees and black oil beetles.
25:57I could go on and on and on.
26:03Protecting these species is the job of Kinver's ranger team,
26:07who have recruited some very special assistants.
26:14These sort of native breed cattle are fantastic ecosystem engineers and ecosystem managers.
26:20Without any grazing, this area here would develop very, very quickly
26:24into woodland, so the cattle keep these little trees in check,
26:27which creates the best sort of light and heat conditions,
26:29particularly for the really rare and threatened and special species that we have here at Kinver.
26:37Local graziers Adrian and Ollie have some unsuspecting new recruits for the project.
26:44The English longhorns definitely have strong personalities.
26:47You definitely have your favourites within the herd.
26:50Between them, they're very distinctive and you can see that especially with the family groups.
26:55They'll stick with their original family groups and they definitely do have friends as well.
27:00When you go to check on them, they'll be with their friend.
27:04But whether they want to be friends with rangers Ewan and Alex remains to be seen.
27:11We are moving four cows from the sort of main area on Kinver edge here to another small area of
27:17heatland that requires some grazing.
27:23The English longhorns, absolutely lovely breed to work for.
27:26As you can see, they're very chilled out, they're very docile.
27:29But you never know, you're working with animals.
27:33You get the odd one that likes to run off and go sort of in another direction.
27:37Can they be quite stubborn Adrian?
27:40In this case, yes.
27:44They like to give us a run around every once in a while.
27:46A little bit of a chase over to the corner, but after that, yeah, quite chilled.
27:53Now the English longhorns have been safely rounded up,
27:57they are moved to the next area of Kinver edge to need grazing.
28:03Always keen to get a bit of fresh.
28:07Yep, they've settled in quite nicely.
28:09Great stuff.
28:13While Kinver's four-legged helpers begin some serious conservation work,
28:18Corey Banks' mule is stubbornly refusing to give Rex and the team an easy ride.
28:24That's pretty grim.
28:26They have just 24 hours before visitors return.
28:30Time's always a factor, isn't it?
28:32And there is always that feeling at the back of your mind,
28:34I wish to hurry up, we need to get the machine going again.
28:38Right now, the mule is lying in hundreds of individual pieces.
28:43You know, the question you asked earlier about how many different elements to the machine that there is.
28:48Yeah.
28:49You know, it's times like this where we realise just how many tiny little bits there are.
28:54Before they can work out where they all go, each individual piece must be meticulously cleaned.
29:01I need a rag.
29:03It's very important to keep it clean.
29:05These rollers, if they end up getting too dirty, that can get quite dangerous.
29:10If we get too much variation in the yarn, we could have a loom throwing a shuttle out and hitting
29:14somebody and we obviously don't want that.
29:17It has been the case, though, that sometimes we'll be running it and something just goes wrong out of the
29:21blue.
29:23And that is quite scary.
29:26Which means there are no shortcuts when it comes to the maintenance, even when the pressure's on.
29:32At the moment, we're cleaning these areas where the roller sits in.
29:39So I've got a strip of sort of rag, I'm giving it a good clean.
29:43And then Caitlin's going to dollop some grease.
29:48Looks like caramel.
29:49Yeah, it makes you very hungry, that's the problem.
29:54Most people in this area, you've got some sort of mill history within your family.
30:00I've had a great aunt who was a spinner and I think a great great grandad that was a cone
30:05winder.
30:05So yeah, we've got a bit of all sorts in my family.
30:08I think they would have looked at my work and been able to point out any faults with it.
30:13I think they would have been very, very good at their work.
30:17Even though we're under pressure to get the mule going,
30:20ultimately we're not under the same pressure that workers were when they were paid by what they make.
30:26I'm not paid by what I make, thankfully, because I won't be making a lot.
30:31But to have that pressure looming over you, to know that your wage is dependent on getting that machine going
30:37again,
30:38yeah, that could definitely add a lot of stress.
30:41The Greggs didn't want the machines to stop.
30:44So any operation that had to be carried out to repair cotton threads, to clean under the machines,
30:50had to be done while these machines were moving.
30:52So there's an enormous risk of injury.
30:58A young lad called John Foden was working here back in the 1800s.
31:04Very sadly, he'd gone underneath the machine while the machine was working and didn't get out of the way in
31:09time.
31:10And he was crushed to death by the machine.
31:14Often when we get people in here, they'll have children with them who are that age.
31:20And it really brings it home to you when you think of that individual child being under, you know, that
31:26personality,
31:27having to do those things.
31:28It makes you realise all of these children had personalities.
31:32You know, that they were, they were dear to somebody.
31:42Downstairs in Quarry Bank's archive, Katie is on the trail of a child worker whose story has touched the hearts
31:49of the team.
31:50The name I'm looking for is Thomas Payne.
31:54But signs of Thomas's life in the mill's records are proving hard to pin down.
32:01We know he entered the apprentice house in 1785.
32:05That's all we have.
32:07So I'm looking through other information we have about the apprentices to see if he appears anywhere else in the
32:12story of the mill.
32:15So that's 1837, that's much too late.
32:20We've got some quite common names here.
32:23We've got Foden, Brearley, Blundell.
32:29So it's alphabetical here, so it starts with the A's.
32:33But he's not here.
32:36So this is just going to be a case of searching.
32:39Try, yeah, there he is.
32:41Thomas Payne.
32:4311 and 1 over 5, 2-2.
32:47That's what he was paid.
32:49So it's not much to go on.
32:50But he's here.
32:53It's a really tiny reference and it doesn't give us much, but it does give us a sense that he
32:59was here for a length of time.
33:00It also tells us that he probably left here after his apprenticeship when he was 21.
33:06We can't find him anywhere else.
33:08We can't find him in any of the rental agreements.
33:10Where he went, we don't know.
33:11But learning a skill in cotton at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution is actually quite valuable.
33:17And once you've got those skills, you have a certain autonomy once you've reached the end of your apprenticeship.
33:22And he's on the boundary of Manchester, which is the boom town.
33:26And he can take his labour anywhere once this indenture is done.
33:33But in the boom towns like Manchester, tensions were reaching boiling point.
33:41Industrial workforces are ripe for revolution.
33:45They essentially power whole nations, and yet they're asked to do it for little wage.
33:52And when masses come together and advocate for change, ultimately change can happen.
34:00In the early 19th century, demands for reform led to a surge of unrest.
34:07The government starts to panic.
34:09So for the first time, they start to legislate, they start to control the hours that people can work,
34:13the education that they need to have, and it's because of places like this.
34:18The first legislation for people's working conditions starts in 1802,
34:23and it's about the wealth of apprentices working specifically in cotton mills.
34:29But reform came too late for Thomas Paine.
34:33By 1802, he would have been 30.
34:37His childhood already lost to the single piece of paper which Sharon is carefully preserving.
34:47So the next step is to start repairing.
34:52I think I'll begin with this large tear, as it's the most vulnerable area of the document just now.
34:59It's important to repair the tears in the paper.
35:02So I will be using a Japanese tissue and a wheat starch paste, and I'll make repairs on the back
35:10of the document so that I don't interfere with the text or the visibility of the text at all.
35:16The polyester film is just to protect the document while I needle out the shape of the tissue.
35:25Japanese papers are made from plants that have very, very long fibres.
35:29This makes the paper very strong.
35:31So you can make very fine repairs using naturally strong paper.
35:39Just position the tissue over the tear.
35:44So I'm going to adhere that onto the back of the document.
35:50So I'm just going to work my way down the length of this tissue repair.
35:57Just pressing paste through the tissue and making sure it's well adhered onto the paper beneath.
36:13I adore being a conservator.
36:15It's wonderful to be trusted with an object that's in usually terrible state by the time it comes to me.
36:23Oh sorry, I just got a bit emotional there.
36:27Oh no.
36:29I'm very passionate about what I do.
36:33I do find myself getting drawn in to certain things, especially if there's children.
36:39You can't help but think about what were they feeling?
36:42Who were their friends? What were their family like?
36:46This pulled on my heartstrings a little bit to think of him leaving his home environment and being sent to
36:52work.
36:52And what a complete change that would have been for him.
36:56It's important to honour that moment in this young man's story in his life.
37:03I think this should be done now.
37:07That looks great.
37:09It's safe and happy and ready to go home.
37:17At Kinver Edge, it's now the exterior of the rock houses which are getting a new lease of life, courtesy
37:24of painter and decorator Rob.
37:28It's a different job, this one. You don't often get to paint many caves, I suppose.
37:33It beats just doing your normal three-bed semi.
37:36At the end of the day, I'm just watching paint dry all the time.
37:40So, to have something that's a little bit different, a little bit quirky, really nice actually.
37:46But a three-bed semi doesn't soak up water like a sponge.
37:51The water goes into it and that's what these are.
37:54These are the lines in the stone where the water's trapped.
37:57As you can see, it's wearing away.
38:00Areas are going back to the stone.
38:02It's certainly ready for a new coat.
38:03It needs a freshen up, shall we say.
38:07Right.
38:09To beat the damp, Rob's using a technique as old as the hills he's painting.
38:16So, this is the lime wash, this is just lime putty and water.
38:19Obviously, we're having to agitate it, mix it up well.
38:24It's probably the oldest paint in existence.
38:27There's Roman villas found with lime washes, so we're talking thousands of years.
38:32I think it stood the test of time.
38:35It's the traditional way, it's the oldest way.
38:37And for places like this, there's still nothing else that's any better.
38:47I enjoy working here.
38:49It's quiet, peaceful.
38:51Plenty of robins.
38:53I do find myself having quite a few conversations with the robins.
38:57It's just weird to think people have lived here, just on this rock.
39:03They'd have painted this a few hundred years ago, wouldn't they?
39:06So, you do feel like you're a little bit of history.
39:11Somebody needs to keep hold of it, so that we don't lose what we used to have.
39:24Around the corner at the postman's cottage...
39:27We good to go? We good to go.
39:29National Trust tradesman Dan is installing the newly donated range.
39:37Ably assisted by the donor himself, Brian, who has fitted the range before in his own house.
39:43It needs to look just right. I won't be happy till it does.
39:48If you're going to do a job, do a proper job.
39:51Today, the duo are constructing the supporting brickwork.
39:56Come on, hurry up, I'm waiting for coffee.
39:57It's your turn to make me on now.
40:00He hasn't even done one mix today.
40:03You know, all jokes inside, you do want to do as good a job as you can.
40:08I'm actually an electrician, so the kind of cooking appliances I'm used to installing
40:12is just a bit of wiring up and off you go.
40:14I don't normally have to mortar them in.
40:16So this is something new.
40:19But the good thing about, obviously, the rock houses is because they were put together with what bits and pieces
40:27people at the time could find.
40:29It's already got a bit of a rustic charm to it anyway, so it's a balance between trying to get
40:34something perfect
40:35and also keeping character with it.
40:39But up against the cave's wonky walls, character can be more of a hindrance than a help.
40:46The standard brick sizes were not appropriate.
40:49Plug your ear holes up, it's going to be time to turn on.
40:5340% of them had to be cut specifically to fit where they had to fit.
40:58I need a bit more.
41:00My hairdresser always said, you can always take some off, you just can't put it back on.
41:07It's over me.
41:08Tell me about it.
41:10In retrospect, I wish I hadn't have done it in brick.
41:14I'd have been in and out better on a bit of 4B2.
41:19Expertly done.
41:21Cooking on gas, son.
41:25Further up the hill, on the upper level of the rock houses...
41:29Popping your mixed spice in.
41:32Helen and Tracy are cooking up a storm in the tea rooms with their signature bake.
41:37Rock cakes would seem to be a bit of a must for us because obviously rock houses, rock cakes, but
41:41also it's the kind of thing that the people here would have made.
41:44And it's a local recipe.
41:46A speciality, I suppose you would put it in.
41:50I think the rock houses is a really special place because it has a working class roots.
41:55You know, it must have been a tough life because we have to get our deliveries up the hill, but
41:59they had to get everything up the hill.
42:01I mean, it is very, very different from those great big stately homes.
42:04You know, it's a whole sort of rag rug sort of journey that they made the most of what they
42:09got.
42:10And in the later years of the Industrial Revolution, the residents made the most of a new opportunity that had
42:18turned up on their doorstep.
42:20The arrival of modern mass transit systems opened up a whole new world for the workers in the cities.
42:28For the first time, a day off could be spent in the countryside.
42:32We can see this phenomenal moment at Kimber where people's private homes, where they have lived quietly, become a tourist
42:41attraction and they embrace that.
42:44The families that were living here saw that there were thousands of visitors coming every weekend up to Kimber Edge
42:50and they saw an opportunity.
42:52Every spare chair, table and teapot was pressed into service, catering to the new day-trippers.
43:01Up there, we can just about at the top see just the remnants of that lettering.
43:06They would have cobbled together a few tables and chairs.
43:09Somebody would have made the cake, somebody else would have provided, you know, maybe some scones or something.
43:14Nothing would have matched. It would have just all been, you know, make do.
43:19Helen has first-hand evidence of another money spinner.
43:24Postcards.
43:25So my family's been coming to the edge for years.
43:27My grandparents came on holiday here and these are actually postcards from great-great aunts and uncles from around about
43:341915, I think.
43:36I'm having a lovely time in Kimber.
43:39Mother and dad have taken me for a walk through the fields and we've seen lots of butterflies.
43:44It's really sweet, isn't it?
43:46And I think it's doing us all good. I think we'll be coming home tomorrow.
43:50It's really incredible to think that, you know, it's over 100 years ago that my family would have been sending
43:55postcards back from this place and roaming around and enjoying it and seeing the things that we're seeing now.
44:04Look at this though. Isn't it lovely today?
44:06These colours are beautiful.
44:08Keeping Kimber ready for today's tourists are the Trust's team of staff and volunteers, including Val and her wife, Kath.
44:18So where are you going to go after this?
44:21Oh, well, I'll probably do the usual route and go right round the edge.
44:26Yeah.
44:27With miles of footpaths through open countryside, Kimber Edge's green spaces are as popular today as ever.
44:36This is my job to make sure we don't have this any longer on our beloved Kimber Edge.
44:44Leaving our beautiful countryside litter free. That's what we want.
44:49So we go right up to the top now, which has got to be the best of the best of
44:55the best.
44:57All the way round.
44:59Breathtaking.
45:02It would have looked nothing like this 100 years ago.
45:06We'd have just had a few houses, I'm reckoning, and probably quite a lot of smoke bellowing up, particularly over
45:12towards Birmingham and the Black Country,
45:14because that's where all the people came from who wanted to come and have a day out in some fresh
45:20air, really.
45:21And they'd come to a place like Kimber, especially the rock houses, and enjoy some fresh, breezy conditions.
45:28So this was really quite a haven for people.
45:32And I think it brings a great lift to the soul.
45:36And people have been feeling that for hundreds of years.
45:45And it's thought that one visitor may have been a Birmingham boy.
45:50The young J.R.R. Tolkien.
45:54When you look at Kimber Edge, it's easy to believe that Tolkien himself was inspired by the rock houses when
46:02dreaming up the Hobbit halls, the homes of Bilbo Baggins and his characters in the Lord of the Rings series.
46:09We know that he travelled the area, we know it was familiar to him.
46:15There is so much joy placed on places like the Shire and Hobbiton, where life is slow and steady and
46:23simple and rural, and something to strive for, and to be someone's happy ending at the end of the story.
46:34Life at Kimber still follows a gentler rhythm, especially on the Heathland, where the English Longhorns are quietly carrying on
46:45with their conservation grazing.
46:49But the herd's work has led to some unusual activity here on summer evenings.
46:56So if I lift it up, can you lay the sheet out?
46:59Let's find out.
47:01To check if the cows have been doing their job, the ranger team are assessing the state of the Heathland's
47:07wildlife.
47:09The insect invertebrate population is a real good indication about the health of the environment and the habitat, particularly things
47:15like moths, because they react very quickly to environmental change.
47:18So if we're seeing a big increase in abundance and species diversity, it means hopefully that we're doing the right
47:24thing here for those species.
47:26Right. I've got it there, thank you very much.
47:28To help check moth numbers, Ewan has recruited some expert counters.
47:35We have some great volunteers that monitor the moths, record the numbers, send in that data, and that really indicates
47:40to us, is what we're doing working or are the things that we need to change.
47:45Leading the survey tonight is dedicated moth enthusiast, Dave.
47:51At Kimber, they just call me the moth man, which is very original, isn't it really?
47:57I love all animals, not just moths.
48:00I started off as birds as my main hobby, and I went to a bird fair, and one of the
48:07stalls there was moths, and I was completely hooked by it.
48:11And that started about 16 years ago, I'd say, that I started doing moths.
48:17Dave is armed with a secret weapon.
48:21We'll hang that onto there.
48:23A standard moth trap works by light.
48:26We're not really sure why light works to attract moths in, but it does.
48:30They fly down, land on the perspex, and drop into the box below.
48:36So if I switch here...
48:40Dave will spend hours overnight counting the moths as they land on the trap, before releasing them again.
48:47Hi, Kath.
48:48Do you want to sit down with me here?
48:50It's a job that demands both patience and coffee.
48:56Every time we do a moth session, we're always excited, because you just never know what's going to come.
49:04Successful night trapping is when we're busy, when we're getting moths coming here, there, and everywhere,
49:09you're potting up, just to have a look, so you can identify later on.
49:15See what's on it.
49:18We're getting a lot of moths in.
49:20They were covering me as well.
49:22Oh, they're on your rig.
49:25How many have you had, do you think, species-wise?
49:27I think we've had 70 so far.
49:3170 species, but there's an awful lot of moths in here.
49:3370 species, but there's a lot of moths in there.
49:35As you can see, they're coming in while we're talking, one just landed on my ear.
49:39I can feel them, Dan.
49:40Yeah, they're hitting against my face at the moment.
49:43I love the green moths, and that one's a large emerald.
49:47Yeah, absolutely fantastic moth, aren't they?
49:49And here, we have got one of my favourites.
49:53It's a peppered moth, but some people know it as Darwin's moth.
49:58Before the Industrial Revolution, they were this lightish colour,
50:02so they could land on bark and things like that and not be seen.
50:04But of course, with the Industrial Revolution,
50:07with the areas getting black with soot,
50:09this light-coloured moth would stand out.
50:12So, it evolved and became a black colour.
50:15Once we got the Clean Air Act through
50:18and everything started getting a lot cleaner,
50:20it went back to being this light colour,
50:24which shows that it's not just the strongest that survived,
50:27it's the one that's most adaptable to change.
50:32The 70 species of moth, counted tonight,
50:36indicates the success of the rangers and their longhorns.
50:41Footman there as well, look?
50:43Scarce footman.
50:44Fantastic.
50:45It's non-stop tonight, they're just coming in and coming in,
50:47and it's really excellent, it is.
50:51But this is just the beginning.
50:54A lot of the work that I've done through my career as a ranger,
50:56I won't see the benefit of my lifetime.
50:58It's often about creating legacies for future generations to enjoy nature
51:01and to ensure that these populations of rare plants and animals thrive in the future.
51:12At Quarry Bank Mill, another legacy endures.
51:17Hi, Sharon. Hi.
51:19As Sharon returns Thomas Payne's indenture home to the mill.
51:24It's so much happier now.
51:26Oh, goodness.
51:28So, it's had a good clean, all the tears have been repaired.
51:31It's nice and robust now.
51:33Cos it was almost in two pieces here, wasn't it?
51:36Along that really harsh fold.
51:38That looks really strong now.
51:41I can't wait to put it on display.
51:43Yeah, it'll be lovely to share it with people.
51:48It's such a small document, but it is such a big part of this person's story.
51:56It's so important to reflect on those people who are lost to history.
52:02It's really hard to think about the experiences these children had.
52:07We know that they would have been missing their parents.
52:09They were uncomfortable, in pain, tired, sore.
52:14It's kind of poignant to think that we might never find out any more about him.
52:18But we're never going to stop asking questions of this archive.
52:21And having this indenture means his name will survive in the story of Quarry Bank.
52:26It's all we have and we have to say that that's enough for now.
52:30But we never say never.
52:35Downstairs in the mill.
52:36Got one on there.
52:38Yeah.
52:39Two on there.
52:40Time is catching up with the team servicing the mule.
52:44So we're going to take the bobbins down from here to where they need to sit and then start pulling
52:48the cotton out and lining it back up to go onto the mule.
52:53But there's still a long way to go to tie up all the loose ends.
52:58There are 560 threads on the machine.
53:01Once you get into the routine of doing it, it's quite quick.
53:05That makes 56.
53:08Just 504 to go.
53:11It's a tough one. I think we're just about going to make it.
53:15We can get rid of the film crew.
53:19Once all the cotton is in place.
53:22I think we're ready to go.
53:23All eyes are on what comes next.
53:28When we've done a big service of our machines, there is a little bit of anxiety when you turn it
53:34on again.
53:35There's a little concern as to whether it's going to sound like it should sound.
53:38We hope that we've put them back securely.
53:40That everything's in the right place.
53:42It's not called a mule for nothing. It can be the most obstinate of creatures, you know.
53:46You all right?
53:47Yep.
53:48Make sure it's out of gear.
53:48Set it into gear.
53:50And then inch it back out.
53:57That's looking OK.
53:59We can bring it all the way out, can't we?
54:07Hey, not bad on this side.
54:09It went very well.
54:11The machine sounds exactly how I would expect it to sound.
54:14So, happy days.
54:22There is a minor sigh of relief when it does what it's supposed to do.
54:27It's important that we do, like, pass on skills and keep the skills going.
54:32The cotton industry and the Industrial Revolution is a very, very big part of the history in this area and
54:36globally.
54:37I'm happy to keep learning and try and keep those skills going as well.
54:45We're back in business.
54:46You've tamed the stubborn mule.
54:49Don't say that in front of it. No, no one can tame the mule.
54:52The mule has decided to cooperate with us.
54:56So, that's it for another year then.
54:58Thank goodness.
55:03One goes in there.
55:05Is there anything missing?
55:07The team at Kinva are also working up until the last moment.
55:12Anything missing, Mavis?
55:14As the winter deep clean winds down before opening up for spring.
55:19Is that our last thing of the day?
55:21Have we got everything in place?
55:23Yes.
55:23Wonderful.
55:24Well done.
55:26And at the postman's cottage...
55:28This, I believe, is the last piece.
55:32Thank you very much.
55:33Dan and Brian add the finishing touches to the range.
55:38The end is definitely in sight.
55:42Looking good, son. Looking good.
55:44Yep, we'll take that.
55:47After nearly 40 years, this rock house is now complete.
55:53And the team is eager to see the full range in pride of place.
55:58Pretty excited to see it in situ and being all dressed up and, yeah.
56:06Oh, that looks ace.
56:08Oh, yeah. Look at that.
56:09It's like it's always been here.
56:10It is, isn't it?
56:11Yeah.
56:11It looks really good, doesn't it?
56:12Yeah.
56:13It just makes it look like it's actually in use now.
56:16Well done, you two for doing it.
56:18I'm really pleased you like it.
56:19It just finishes the room off so beautifully.
56:22The thing that was missing wasn't it?
56:24Yeah, it was.
56:24It really was.
56:28After carrying it up here in pieces, to actually see it in situ, all in one piece, really brought the
56:33house almost into our home.
56:34Having that roaring as a fire and everyone had gathered around it in cups around it and everything.
56:38I mean, you see everyone gathered around it now.
56:40I imagine that's very much what it was like.
56:42All the families coming together.
56:43So, yeah, it's almost gone full circle.
56:46You can see how much of a, forgive the pun, a draw it is to sit in front of the
56:52fire.
56:52There wouldn't have been any telephones, microwaves, nothing like that.
56:55So, sitting round the hearth, having a chat about the day, having a chat about the family, the kids talking
57:01about being at school.
57:02You know, almost like the heart is the heart of the whole thing.
57:08These weren't sort of grand titled people with fancy homes.
57:13We're telling the story of ordinary working class people and we're showing how important their place in our history is.
57:21It's all our history.
57:22And I think that gives a different atmosphere because there's more people like us than there is of people in
57:31bigger houses, isn't there?
57:37Take an interactive journey with the Open University to discover how different landscapes have shaped these hidden treasures.
57:45Scan the QR code on screen or visit connect.open.ac.uk forward slash hidden treasures.
57:57Next time, the homes of two pioneering British designers.
58:02It's wonderful craftsmanship, just exquisite.
58:06Wow, look at it.
58:07A mysterious portrait takes center stage.
58:11She does look astonishing.
58:12She does, doesn't she?
58:13Absolutely beautiful.
58:14And a lost garden bursts into bloom.
58:18It's really amazing what you've done here.
58:20I'm just following instructions from beyond the grave.
58:24Hmm.
58:54What, I mean, the world is coming.
58:55You don't know everything is coming for me?
58:55Absolutely beautiful.
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