Full Steam Ahead

Peter Ginn and Alex Langlands work as navvies

Historians Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn continue to relive the golden age of steam and how the Victorian railways created modern Britain. They visit Beamish in County Durham, learning how the rail companies first realised there was money to be made in moving people rather than commodities. Then Peter and Alex live the life of navvies, the men who built the thousands of miles of tracks in all weather conditions, and Ruth finds out what impact the new railroads had on the cottage industries. She also learns about the role of the guard, and the trio learn what precautions were necessary for taking a long journey on a train that was yet to include the necessary facilities