History expert advises on new BBC ratings hit Full Steam Ahead

Agricultural historian John Martin lends his expertise to BBC Two’s latest hit history series Full Steam Ahead as the programme tells how railways transformed the British diet.

Professor Martin, Professor of Agrarian History at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU), was engaged as a specialist consultant by the programme producers for this particular episode. The development of the railways allowed the mass transportation of meat and produce all over the country, rescuing a nation that was struggling to feed itself, he explained.



Prof Martin, who also appears in the programme, said that steam railways transformed food production in Britain, allowing different areas to specialise in produce – for example the famous “rhubarb triangle” in Yorkshire which still survives today.

He said: “In the longer term it also led to the emergence of global specialization which in the case of Britain meant that by the 1930s, 70 per cent of the country's food originated from overseas.

In effect the programmes explores the way the steam revolution shaped the way we live today.”

Historians Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn (pictured above) – with whom Prof Martin previously worked on the hugely popular Wartime Farm and Tudor Monastery series  – explore different aspects of the country’s food network at the time of Queen Victoria.

Alex, Peter and John load a flock of sheep onto a train, discovering how the mass transportation of livestock by rail transformed the quality and quantity of meat available to Victorian consumers. This new capability popularised  the  traditional British roast.



Ruth follows in the footsteps of Britain's 'herring girls', revealing how the North Yorkshire Moors Railway revived the fortunes of Whitby, turning it into a thriving fishing town, supplying the country's kippers.

Alex looks at how pioneering farmers attempted to use steam power to increase production, getting to grips with the latest steam-ploughing technology.

Peter discovers how steam-powered engines revolutionised production at Britain's oldest brewery and how the traction engine worked alongside the locomotive to distribute beer across the country. In Yorkshire, Ruth sees how farmers created a monopoly on rhubarb, growing the crop in dark sheds and transporting it nightly to London on the rhubarb express.

Meanwhile, Alex boards a locomotive on the watercress line in Hampshire, discovering how the railway brought the nutritional salad to the masses.

The overall programme has been developed with The Open University. Dr Chris Williams, from the OU History department, said: “Full Steam Ahead brings the history of the industrial revolution and the steam age to life. It will show millions of people how the UK became the first industrial nation: a country powered by steam, feeding its population through national markets, and creating the first global brands.”