All language subtitles for The Worlds Most Scenic Railway Journeys Series 3 Part 1 Devon and Cornwall 1080p

Join us on a wonderfuljourney
through the south-west of England.

Recapturing the bygone era
of luxury train travel...

Happy days. Happy day$_

...and reliving the charm of steam...

...on a route with views
of the most stunning coastline

that also suffered
devastating destruction.

We had no trains
for two whole months.

A journey full of wonders
and inspiration.

I've been boating to and from
the islands

since I was about nine or ten.

We meet the people who work and live
along this special line...

We've got it down to a fine art.

...before we arrive
at our destination

on the River Dart.

This is no ordinary railway journey.

This is one of the most scenic
railway journeys in the world,

Devon and Cornwall.

Our journey is all about reliving
the romanticism of the golden age

of luxury train travel
and enjoying the scenic delights

of the south-west of England.

But, first, we need to get there.

Our starting point is, surprisingly,
in the north,

near where our train is based,
in the city of York.

We're embarking on a very special
two-day trip

along the English Riviera,

travelling on this beautiful
vintage train, The Statesman.

It's nearly 6am and our train
is ready to depart.

Service manager James is making sure
everyone is on board.

Good morning,
welcome to York station.

We're just about to depart and
head all the way down to Penzance.

Our home for the next two clays are
these exquisite Pullman carriages.

In charge of dining operations
is Sandra.

So a nice, bright, early start
from York this morning.

We've seen the day come to life,

now we'll serve breakfast
en route until we start

picking up the nice scenery
beyond Exeter.

Our journey will take us from the
north down to the tip of Cornwall.

From York,
we're heading south to Exeter,

where our south-western
adventure begins.

We'll travel
to Dawlish along the Devon Riviera

before cutting inland,
past Dartmoor,

to reach Plymouth
and the Great Royal Albert Bridge.

As we cross the River Tamar,

we enter Cornwall
and pass St Germans

and travel through
the Cornish countryside

to overnight in Penzance.

The following day,
we'll travel back north to Paignton.

Here, we'lljoin
the Dartmouth Steam Railway

for a special trip to Kingswear,
by the River Dart.

Throughout the year,
The Statesman travels

to a number of Britain's
best-loved destinations.

Perfect for a special occasion.

It's a lovely way to travel
around the country

and see wonderful scenery
in a relaxing environment.

Jessica and Keith are celebrating
their 38th wedding anniversary.

It was a good opportunity
to celebrate in style.

It's time to sit back and,
for the next 250 miles,

enjoy the exquisite onboard service.

You're very welcome.

Steward Jo is putting
the finishing touches

to the mise en place.

It's all about the finer detail,
even the napkins are well-dressed.

Each customer
gets their own dinner jacket.

It's one of my favourite ones, this,
I love making these.

We got lots of really nice
compliments about the napkin folds,

sometimes, with the guests, they'll
ask us, "How did you do that?"

And we'll sort of give them
a little masterclass.

Everything is freshly prepared
on board.

The kitchen might be small,

but, for head chef Nick
and sous chef Nina,

that is not the only challenge.

One of the hardest things is having
to deal with boiling water.

Any liquids, really, because a lot
of the tracks that we go on

have got a camber,
so it slops around a lot.

So you have to be very wary
of that.

And the space that we're working in,

you know, you have to be
quite organised and logistical.

We stick to our areas of the
kitchen,

so there's not a lot of crossover.

We're not clambering
over each other.

We've got it down to a fine art.

It's, like, 34 years
I've been working in kitchens

and, um, this is the first time
I've ever worked in a moving one.

Strike that off my bucket list now.

After a relaxing seven hours,

Exeter is behind us
and we are heading

for Dawlish on the Devon coast.

Skirting the edge of the sea,
this is one of the most scenic parts

of the train journey to Penzance.

But with the tracks so close
to the water,

this stretch
is particularly vulnerable

to the Great British weather.

On the 5th of February 2014,
after a night of heavy storms,

a section of the seawall collapsed,

leaving part of the railway line
hanging in mid-air.

With the town's coastline
devastated,

people living on the seafront had
to be evacuated from their homes.

In the aftermath of the storm,

the community came together
to clean up the damage.

The Friends of Dawlish Station
are a group of dedicated volunteers

who took it upon themselves
to restore their battered station.

The chair of this community project
is Margaret.

The whole town was different.

We had no trains, no sound
of the trains coming through at all

for two whole months.

This town was quiet.

And it was at that point
where The Friends of Dawlish

started looking after the station
and making it really welcoming

and beautiful again
following that great storm.

The station is located
right next to the sea.

When we get the stormy weather here,
the waves come over that roof

and the waves hit this platform
that we're standing on here.

That's how stormy it gets
in Dawlish.

We've got photographs and pictures
of the water

up to the level of the platform.

So those drains there, normally,
they would let the water flow away.

But, in 2014, it was so ferocious,
the storm, that they couldn't cope.

And the whole of this
was just flooded.

It was like a canal.

Work to repair the damage
started immediately.

They worked 24/7 for two months
and we called them the Orange Army.

They got the line up and running
in eight weeks.

Given the devastation,

it was unbelievable what they did
in such a short space of time.

300 rail staff and contractors

worked to replace the seawall
and track,

using 6,000 tons of concrete
and 150 tons of steel.

In 2019, an even bigger seawall
was built,

which will protect the town
against any future storms.

So this is our new seawall.

As you can see, we've got the lip
now that curls over

and the idea is that the waves
will come in, flip up the wall

and then go back out to sea,
rather than over the wall

and onto the railway line.

And we'll find out this winter,

when we get the first storms
coming in.

Back on our train,

the guests are not just enjoying
the stunning views,

it's also lunchtime.

The menus are inspired by the places
along the route.

Today's lunch includes a Cornish
fish cake and an unusual dessert.

This trip in particular,
we've got an item on, the dessert,

called a figgy 'obbin,

which is an old-fashioned
traditional Cornish pudding.

It's an old Victorian sweet item
from Cornwall.

Out in the dining car,
there are no complaints

about these nostalgic morsels
of delights.

To sit in perfect comfort
whilst you're actually

enjoying the British countryside.

What more could you want?

Happy anniversary. Here's to life.

Cheers.

As the guests relax after lunch,
they'll soon be treated

to one of Britain's greatest
railway masterpieces,

the Royal Albert Bridge.

We are on a scenic railway journey
through the south-west of England.

Riding through the gorgeous
Devon countryside

to Penzance, in Cornwall.

Our train is no ordinary train.

We're travelling on
the beautiful Statesman...

...pulled by an equally
vintage locomotive,

a Class D47,
an old diesel-electric classic.

Message received and understood.
Right away on the signal.

At the controls today
is train driver, John.

We're on a Class 47, number 593,

one of our heritage British Rail
Large Logo liveried machines.

So built in the '60s,
still lasting today,

thanks to our professional
engineering team the LSL at Crewe,

that keeps our six locos all
in operational running condition.

So quite a vintage train we've got.

It's special to drive
because there's not anything

like this on the main line anymore.

It's definitely
like driving an Aston Martin.

Perhaps not as powerful
as an Aston Martin,

but, yes, like driving that.

We'll travel along the outskirts
of Dartmoor National Park bound

for Plymouth, where we'll cross
over into Cornwall.

From there, it's onward
through St Germans,

past Truro and St Erth,

before arriving in Penzance.

Good afternoon,
ladies and gentlemen,

we are now arriving into Plymouth.

If you wish to stretch your legs
for 15 minutes, please do so,

but if you can listen out for the
whistle, ready for our departure.

After a quick pit stop,
it's time to board.

No one wants to miss one of the
great highlights of this journey,

the link from Devon into Cornwall...

...the Royal Albert Bridge.

We'lljust put the brake in now,

as it's got a low speed of 15mph
over the bridge.

The passengers love the bridge.

It's very high up, there's
lovely views of the estuary.

As you go along, the structure
of it passes the window.

You just remember it,
it's just amazing.

The iconic bridge over the River
Tamar was designed and built

by one of Britain's
greatest engineers,

lsambard Kingdom Brunel.

To tell us more about the bridge,
and Brunel himself, is Craig,

who's worked as a signalman
in this area for over 30 years.

It really is an engineering
masterpiece.

And, at this level, we can really
get a perspective of the challenge

that faced Brunel in the 1850s.

Brunel's original idea
was to have masonry piers

with a wooden trestle top
across the entire river.

But, however, the Admiralty
had other ideas.

They insisted on a hundred-foot-high
structure and wide berth

to get their shipping through.

The upshot was to come up
with this structure,

the semi-suspension bridge.

Lots of issues here for Brunel,

including the river being 75 feet
deep at this particular location

and also the fact that the suitable
bedrock to start the building

was a further 20 feet below that.

This is actually
the narrowest part of the river,

but, even so, the whole structure,
end to end,

is way over 2,000 feet in length.

Construction started in 1854.

It wasn't until three years later
the first truss was raised

at a rate of six feet a week
using hydraulic jacks.

The challenge
can't be underestimated

with the technology that was around
in 1850, and it remains

an incredible testament
to his design and ingenuity.

And it's still here being used
day in, day out

for exactly the same purpose
it was built for.

Sadly, the Royal Albert Bridge was
one of Brunel's final challenges.

By the time the bridge opened
in May 1859,

he was gravely ill.

Brunel died of a stroke
on the 15th of September 1859.

He was only 53.

But his legacy
will live on forever.

Without the bridge behind me,
there would be no railway

into Cornwall and all those hundreds
and thousands of journeys,

from the days of steam right through
diesel to the current day trains,

all of which have been bestowed
with this man's name.

The railway is mightily proud
of the work that this man has done.

I live at the really far end
of Cornwall.

I went to university
up in Manchester,

which was a long way away,

and when I got back
to Brunel's bridge,

I knew I was nearly home again.

On the other side of the bridge
lies Saltash,

the first town on Cornish soil.

A couple of miles later, we cross
another picturesque river,

the Tiddy, to reach St Germans.

This small village has an unassuming
train station,

but it hides a wonderful secret
for train lovers.

Lizzie and Dave bought
the old station house 28 years ago

and, when they stumbled across
a siding in their garden,

they had an idea.

We excavated and found
some rails in the, uh...

buried in the siding and then we
thought, it'd be quite nice

to have a railway carriage there.
We did, yeah. As you do.

So we started a hunt, didn't we?

We were looking for
a railway carriage

and we thought it'd be nice to have
somewhere to put our friends,

because we didn't have
a guest bedroom.

What started as a quirky hobby
became a thriving business.

The train-loving couple began
to turn more old carriages

into unique holiday homes.

The starting cost of a carriage
is actually only a tiny percent

of the actual cost of a carriage.

It's the moving of them
and it's the doing them up,

and it's the restoration
that really, really costs.

So what we pay for the carriages
is fairly small

in the grand scheme of things.

We bought a pair of carriages
for £27 on eBay,

which sounds like
a complete bargain,

but, really, it isn't.

The latest purchase in their
collection is going to be

the jewel in the crown.

It's a carriage dating back
to 1897

from Queen Victoria's
Diamond Jubilee train.

It's obviously quite rough now,
but, at one time,

it would've been completely opulent

and the intention is to recreate
that opulence.

Get it looking really, really good.

Look at those windows.

Isn't that amazing?

All that etching, it's beautiful.

And if you look up there,
can you see how there was gold

all the way along at one time?

You can imagine the cost of gilding
a carriage like this. It's terrific.

And, throughout, we'll try
and emulate the style of it

as it was originally.

So these pictures are really
going to be invaluable.

Once the carriage is restored,

they hope it'll have
a whole new lease of life.

When we had the opportunity
of a royal saloon,

we couldn't say no,
even though it was expensive.

It cost us more, I think,

than all the others put together.
It did, yeah.

After 120 years,
the carriage had seen better days.

There we go.

Dave has his work cut out.

Um, these boards are mahogany.

We'll take off the ones that
are left,

because you can see they're
all warped and splitting,

and we can treat the wood,
repair where necessary

and insulate between the framework.

I imagine it'll take three
or four years to do.

But I'm an optimist, so it may
well be longer than that.

Back on board the equally lovingly
restored carriages of The Statesman,

we continue to travel south-west.

We're now sweeping through
the spectacular Cornish countryside

for the next 70 miles,
on our way to Penzance.

As the sun starts to set,
our train returns to the coast

and, in the distance,
passengers get a glimpse

of one of the most stunning
tidal islands in the world.

St Michael's Mount.

This majestic, but tiny, island
lies just 500 metres off Marazion

on the mainland and can be reached
by foot when the tide is low

In the early 1800s, the harbour area
was a busy hub for sailors

and the population rose to 300.

Today, a close-knit community
of 30 islanders live and work here.

The island is at the mercy
of the unpredictable Cornish weather

and life is planned around
time and tide.

Mike, the island's head boatman
and harbourmaster,

grew up on the other side
of the causeway.

I've been on the island
for six years,

but I've been part of the boating
to and from the island

since I was about nine or ten,

when the island wasn't as busy
as what it is today,

360,000 visitors.

My dad was a fisherman,
so it was in our roots

from a very early age that we were
going to end up on the water

doing something that we love,

as well as obviously being able
to have it as a job.

So we've got a few island residents
just coming in,

so we're going to pop over
to Marazion and pick them up.

All right, how are you?

Hop on.

This is the only way to get getting
the island residents

to and from the island,
and the members of staff,

alongside the visitors.

We do this obviously outside
of the visitor hours.

So when you've run out of milk
or anything like that,

it's not a five-minute trip
to the convenience store.

It's a good three-quarters
of an hour, unfortunately,

or just enjoy black tea,
one or the other.

I feel I'm a very lucky person
to have the job I've got.

It's very unique.

Most definitely.

St Michael's Mount is home to
the most unusual terraced gardens.

Despite being surrounded
by the English Channel,

they are like a tropical paradise
with their own unique microclimate.

Head gardener Darren has known
and loved these beautiful grounds

all his life.

I was born and brought up on
the island and, when I left school,

I went into horticulture
and, in 2000, got a job coming back

to work and live on St Michael's
Mount, which I did.

So I come back to my roots
and I've been working here since.

The gardens are full of exotic
plants that normally grow

in much warmer climes.

So the climate here on
St Michael's Mount is very unique.

We're now on the East Terraces,
the sort of

Mediterranean-style garden,
if you like.

A lot of it is mainly
due to the granite.

Granite absorbs the heat and radiates
the heat out during the evenings.

We just off the Gulf Stream as well.

So all these elements push together,
help us grow these sort

of Mediterranean plants
within the gardens.

We've got some lovely Tulbaghias
in flower here.

This one up here is quite lovely.

It's, um, Aloe polyphylla,
the Spiral Aloe,

comes from
the Drakensberg Mountains,

and it sort of grows up to sort
of 2,500 feet up in the mountains.

And we're one of the only places
actually down here in Cornwall

who've got them flowering outside.

We're now in the West Terraces.

It's mainly sort of hotter colours
within the West Terraces.

We try and change
the formula of plantings

from the East Terraces,
Wall Gardens, to West Terraces.

So, as you walk through the gardens,
you get to see different things

as you walk on through.

So the design here
is a lot of hot colour.

So a lot of oranges, reds and
yellows running throughout the beds.

St Michael's Mount
is a tidal island,

where neither its exposed
position nor the weather

can ever dampen its beauty.

We have travelled over 400 miles

since leaving York
early in the morning,

and we're about to arrive in
Penzance, our overnight destination.

Everyone's away now,
off to their hotels.

They've had a great journey down.

In the morning,
we'll be off to St Ives,

a sea town that has attracted
artists for generations,

drawn by the magical light.

It's day two of our glorious rail
journey through Devon and Cornwall

and along
England's beautiful Riviera.

We're travelling in style
in these Mark ll train carriages,

originally built by British Rail
in the 1960s

and pulled by our vintage
D47 locomotive.

Today, The Statesman
will retrace a short section

to explore a famous rail
line from Paignton to Kingswear.

OK, ladies, see you soon.

Back to look after our passengers
are Sandra and James.

Just doing our final preparation
for heading off

to Kingswear, in Devon.

We shall have a super time there
in this wonderful weather.

In the driver's cab, John is ready
for the off.

ON RADIO: I'm just hearing their
conversation with the staff,

I'll give you the right of way
on the radio. Over.

OK, thanks, Alan, message received.

To start the train away,

we place the switch to forward
from engine only.

And then the power handle,

we go to the "on" position
and then, gradually,

as we build up speed,
I can take more power.

The Statesman will head north again,
passing through Cornwall

over the Royal Albert Bridge

to a very special railway in Devon.

Meanwhile, we'll explore two of
Cornwall's picturesque branch lines.

The St Ives Bay Line and,
at the small station in Liskeard,

we'll venture down
the Looe Valley line.

While The Statesman continues on
its luxurious tour of the Riviera,

we are going to make
our first diversion.

The St Ives line,

a short, but spectacular,
15-minute ride from St Erth.

The branch line opened in 1877,
bringing visitors from London

to the little fishing town
of St Ives.

We're joined on board by local
artist and former skipper, Robert.

I think, for all those people
coming to St Ives,

it would have been almost
like going abroad

because of the strong
Cornish accent.

You know, in those days,

it would have been, you know,
quite exotic.

Artists came too,

inspired by the light
and the landscapes.

When they talk about
the light in St Ives,

I think it is obviously a very
special light here,

but it's, I think,
enhanced by the fact

that around, certainly in the bay,

it is sand beneath the water.

And I think there's
a reflective quality.

Robert is the author of a book

about one of St Ives'
most famous sons,

the painter Alfred Wallis.

Wallis turned to painting
in his grief over the death in 1922

of his beloved wife, Susan.

Self-taught after a lifetime
as a mariner,

Wallis was almost 70
when he started painting.

He was a man who started painting
his memories of being at sea

and sailing ships, fishing,

and his memories of what St Ives
used to be.

He was living in a town
with a great many artists,

people who were painting
in the plein air tradition,

painting outside at their easels.

And yet he was completely
his own man.

He was not influenced
by those people at all.

Wallis did a whole series of
paintings of St Ives Bay.

This is one where you will see
the lighthouse and the Stones rocks.

The tide is out.

Alfred Wallis's view of the world
was not limited, restricted

by the laws of perspective
and conventional painting.

He was able to paint with a freedom
which came, in a way, with naivety.

Unlike other artists,
Wallis painted what he knew,

not what he saw.

These are paintings from memory.

They are not painted outside.

They were painted on his kitchen
table, probably standing,

looking down on them.

And so you have that
map-like quality.

You know, they are maps of the sea.

He was an extremely religious man.

And I wonder whether there's
an element in these paintings

of it's almost God's view
of the world.

Wallis's work had many admirers

within the circles of
progressive artists

working in Britain in the 1930s.

Wallis profoundly influenced
that group of artists

who are working in St Ives
at the time

who became the St Ives Modernists.

Through his influence on them,

he has earned himself
a place in the history

of modern British painting.

Sadly, Wallis spent the last years
of his life living in poverty.

When he died in the summer of 1942,

he faced a pauper's grave.

He's buried in Barnoon Cemetery.

His artist friends paid for the plot

and renowned potter Bernard Leach
made his gravestone.

So this is Alfred Wallis's grave,
or tomb.

It is inscribed "Alfred Wallis,
Artist & Mariner,

"August the 18th, 1855
to August 29th, 1942.

"Into thy hands, O Lord.

What a spot for Alfred Wallis,
overlooking the sea,

overlooking the Atlantic Ocean,

Porthmeor Beach,

and, of course,

here we have his beloved
Godrevy Lighthouse.

Back on board The Statesman,
our passengers are enjoying

the Cornish landscape.

We're halfway through our journey
from Penzance to Kingswear

and are about to go
through Liskeard.

This is the start
of the Looe Valley line.

It's only
eight-and-three-quarter miles long,

but well worth the short diversion
to explore

some more of Cornwall's hidden gems.

The first stop on the Looe Valley
line is St Keyne Wishing Well Halt,

a station with a difference.

Anyone wanting to get
on or off the train here

needs to request a stop.

A bit like taking the bus.

No one's getting off today,
but Paul actually lives here.

I came here, to the mill house,
when I was a baby in 1948.

I shall never leave here.

I'm going to stay here all my life,
hopefully.

My father originally was a miller
and, between 1967 and 2012,

we ran the musical museum.

My father and I had
mechanical instruments,

fair organs and music boxes,

and I wanted something to play.

Paul is a musician who specialises
in restoring musical instruments,

in particular old Wurlitzer organs.

So much so, he set up the
magnificent Musical Machines Museum

right next to the station.

At the moment, I'm restoring all
the mechanism of Wurlitzer organ

that came from a cinema in Ipswich.

So the console is over here.

This organ is from the
Regent Cinema, Brighton, 1929.

It was quite a famous organ
in the early 1930s

because the organist there,
Terence Casey,

made 35 of his recordings
on Columbia and HMV.

You have 693 organ pipes,
plus things like Xylophone

and glockenspiel
and drums and cymbals.

I did all the mechanism that
controls the organ pipes last year,

but, now, this year's
all the percussion.

So, for example,
this is the Vibraphone.

GLISTENING NOTES

It's like the instrument that plays
The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

in The Nutcracker Suite.

Once this marvellous Wurlitzer organ
is restored to its former glory,

it's going to sound as good
as the day it was built.

If anybody's coming up
the Looe railway line next time,

hopefully they can pop in and have
a tune on the mighty Wurlitzer

and a cup of coffee.

MUSIC: I Do Like to Be
Beside the Seaside

Meanwhile, passengers
on The Statesmen are enjoying

some afternoon refreshments.

This is the way life should be.

Happy days. Happy day$_

Dad likes that part of the country
anyway, don't you?

Yeah, lovely. Dartmouth. Torquay.
Paignton. It's lovely up there.

Saltash is just around the corner,
and, once again, we cross

the Royal Albert Bridge, this time
from Cornwall into Devon.

John, our driver is keeping an eye
on the speed.

Maximum speed of this train
is 95mph,

but our line speed today
is governed to 60mph maximum

between Plymouth and Newton Abbot.

Next, our train will continue
to Paignton

to join a very special line.
WHISTLE BLOWS

It'll be heading south along
a track steeped in steam history

and in one of the most beautiful
parts of the country,

aboard the Dartmouth Steam Railway.

We're on the final stretch of our
day trip from Penzance in Cornwall

to Kingswear in Devon,

to reach
the Dartmouth Steam Railway.

The famous heritage line
starts at Paignton

and, to get access,
we need to change direction.

We're just arriving now
into Newton Abbot.

A quick change of direction
also means

we need a little cosmetic
change to the train.

The headboards
for the train today,

we're taking it off to put it
on the other end of the train

so that the passengers and
the people that see us at Paignton

arrive with the Cornish Riviera
headboard on.

So Andrew will be putting it
on the front of the other

locomotive, so that it's in the
right direction going into Paignton.

The delightful eight-mile ride
from Newton Abbot to Paignton

is the start of many
a nostalgic memory

as passengers recall
their childhood holidays.

Well, this is the railway
of memories because we used to live

in Hayle, in Cornwall, and travelled
to Paignton every summer

to stay with my grandma.

And we came by train.

In those days,
it was a steam engine

and we remember putting our heads
out of the window

and getting all the black spats
all over our faces.

Very nostalgic indeed.

As it pulls into Paignton,
The Statesman transfers

onto its new track,
the Dartmouth Steam Railway.

WHISTLE BLOWS

It's not the only locomotive
on it today.

It's joined by this one,
the sprightly Lydham Manor.

This tiny railway line travels
from Paignton

along Goodrington Beach,

through Churston,
before crossing over

and running along the edge
of the River Dart

and finishing in Kingswear.

It's one of life's great pleasures
to take a trip

on a steam locomotive.

Even the regulars still relish it.

You think that, every time,
water, coal, combine them

and you can produce power,
steam power. It is still amazing.

Former steam train driver Peter
has worked on the Dartmouth line

all his life.

I think it's time we let
the day driver and fireman

take the engine away and put it on
the train ready for a prompt departure.

Our steam locomotive, the Lydham
Manor, was built in December 1950.

The manors are considered
small, light engines,

but Lydham still weighs
over 100 tons

and has a tank capacity
of 3,500 gallons.

It's a living being.

It's all fire, heating,
water, creating pressure.

There's nothing
"push a button and it goes".

It's team effort on the footplate.

If they're out of sync,
then you'll come to a grinding halt.

Today's loco driver is Barry,

who's an old hand
at looking after the cab.

This is 20 years for me now.

You get to play with
big pieces of machinery like this

and entertain
all our lovely passengers.

Considering it's a bygone era,

keeping these wonderful machines
going, it amazes everybody.

And in charge of the firebox is Seb,
who's passionate about this railway.

We are basically carrying
on with history.

The steam was what made
Britain great,

powered the Industrial Revolution.

And it's nice to feel that you
are doing a small part of that

by keeping it going with this job.

You are keeping part of history
alive, basically.

The original railway line
to Kingswear opened in 1864.

In the seven miles of the railway,

you've got the gradients from sea
level up to the peak at Churston.

Three stone-built viaducts,
a quarter-of-a-mile-long tunnel.

Many bridges over and under.

It really was quite
an engineering feat.

I think, in seven miles,

it took them five years
to build it.

To travel seven miles
at a maximum speed of 25mph

takes 350 gallons of water
and plenty of heat.

For the old steam loco to master
the rolling Devon Hills,

Seb knows when to shovel
and when not.

At the moment, having just come
up the hill, the fire is probably

just about at its hottest.

So the temperature
in there would reach

between 1400 and 1500
degrees Celsius.

Part of the skill of the job is
controlling the fire.

Getting heat, and therefore
steam, when you need it,

but not having too much.

TRAIN WHISTLE

The sound of the steam whistle
takes the passengers back in time.

Just to reminisce, see the sights.

I haven't here for a long while.

I came as a youngster,

and it's just nice to see the
English countryside, you know.

I've just spent the last few years
travelling around the world,

going different places,
you forget how lovely

your own country is.

Just coming around the corner
now to Goodrington Beach.

Being down on the beach,
looking back at the train,

British beach huts,

it is just absolute
quintessential Britain.

It's just amazing, three completely
different sceneries within

seven miles of the line.

And the sea, the
countryside and then the river

down towards Kingswear in
Dartmouth. Absolutely beautiful.

Who could ever get tired
with watching this?

Back on board The Statesman,
the passengers are enjoying

the riverside journey into
Kingswear.

The route along the River Dart,

absolutely beautiful with the boats
and the college and everything else.

It comes as a whole.

It comes as travelling on the train,
going to Dartmouth,

enjoying the ambience of the train,
the nostalgia,

the romance of it all.

Our passengers have enjoyed
the luxury railway journey

through Cornwall and Devon,
and will take a final ride

on the ferry across the River Dart.

With its stunning estuary views,
Kingswear and Dartmouth

are the perfect place
to end this special day.

We have travelled across Devon
and Cornwall and, along the way,

we've been charmed by
this beautiful part of Britain.

From the stunning coastline...

...the unique climate...

...and magical Cornish light...

...to the wonderful people,

Devon and Cornwall have truly

some of the most beautiful railways
in the world.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media