PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): My name is Peter Davison.

I've always loved classic cars and getting stuck in under the bonnet.

Well, I think I fixed that now.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): I'm Christopher Timothy.

I have a passion for the past and exploring bygone eras.

I love nostalgia.

Yeah.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Just, I love it.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Chris and I first met 40 years ago.

Just take it easy, will you?

PETER DAVISON: Relax, Jim.

Enjoy yourself.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): We've been friends ever since our All Creatures Great and Small days.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: You are a bit of a speedster?

I mean, I enjoy driving a car, with a certain velocity, I suppose.

[laughs] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Now we're motoring 1930s style again.

Whoa!

Look!

At that!

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): And going on a series of classic road trips.

PETER DAVISON: Hey!

I like that squeal.

[laughter] That was me.

You should try it.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): It was an era long before motorways.

- This a motorway?

- Yeah.

- We're on a bloody motorway?

- Yeah.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Or sat navs.

Look!

Look!

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): And we're sticking two fingers up to both.

Chris, this is the big adventure.

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Today we're driving nearly 300 miles, all the way from London to Land's End, taking us through glorious, unspoilt English countryside.

We are following the old coaching road that took cars to Cornwall before motorways were built.

♪ ♪ CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Along the way, we'll recreate Britain's first-ever recorded car journey.

Are you in control of it as it was?

No.

- What?

- No.

No?

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): We'll relive the roadside picnics of my past.

This is what I used to do when I was growing up.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): And hitch a ride in one of the country's oldest haulage trucks.

I love the smell of diesel in the morning.

[laughs] ♪ ♪ [car motor] [music playing] ♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): But before we can do any of that, I've got to pick Chris up at the start of the A30, the road that runs between London and Land's End.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): I'd imagined a rendezvous at some iconic London landmark.

Instead, I'm waiting at a kebab van in Hounslow.

PETER DAVISON: For me, it's going to be a trip down memory lane because I used to make this trip, first of all with my parents and then with my friends when we drove down to Cornwall.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): That's me on the right.

For a long time, I've wanted to relive those carefree journeys of my youth.

Now, nearly 50 years later, I'm doing that trip to Cornwall with my friend Chris.

[music playing] Ah!

Christopher!

And what time do you call this?

I'm sorry, I'm a bit behind schedule.

I'll take that.

- OK.

[car starts] Good to see you, man.

Let's go.

Here we go.

[car revving] Whoa!

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Our set of wheels is a Morgan 4/4.

And we're navigating old school style, too.

PETER DAVISON: We don't have sat nav, so.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: No, right, OK.

We do have a map.

Oh, good.

The only problem with that is that you, as my passenger, are also the navigator.

And I get the-- I get the sense that you're not awfully sure-- Whoa, no, I was in the cadets-- in the cadets, in the army cadets at school and map reading was one of the-- one of the things we had to learn.

And how did you do?

I was lousy.

Right.

[music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Fortunately, we've only got one road to follow on this trip.

At nearly 300 miles, the A30 spans the breadth of England, winding its way through the ever-changing landscape of no fewer than eight counties before finally reaching Land's End.

♪ ♪ It's going to take us through rolling Somerset valleys, past wild Devonshire moorland and towards the gorgeous Cornish Coast.

Originally, it was the quickest way out of London to the West Country, and this dates back to the 17th century.

It was an old coaching route, but of course, no one really travels on the old A30 now.

That's the-- that's the what I think is a kind of tragedy.

It's such a fine old road.

[music playing] CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Drivers have been able to take the motorway towards Cornwall since the '70s, but our fine old road now turns into single carriageway, taking us past Windsor Castle.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: I was going to say, I already feel very different from how I felt when you picked me up by the kebab.

PETER DAVISON: Which is because of the helter skelter going on all around us?

I guess.

Yeah, I feel like we've got out, out, away from that now.

And we're on-- we're beginning the big journey, big adventure down the old A30.

Yeah, I agree.

Yeah.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Originally called simply the Great South West Road or London Road, it became the A30 in 1920 when all British roads were relabeled with letters and numbers for the new age of the car.

PETER DAVISON: OK, so-- PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): But the A30 has a unique place in motoring history.

It's on this road, 50 miles out of London, where the UK's first ever recorded car journey was undertaken.

We're trying to find the pub where that groundbreaking trip began.

I've not seen anything-- you seen anything that says the Dove Inn?

No.

Slow-- slow-- can you slow down a bit?

We'll have to see if that one here goes here.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Well, we may be lost.

[music playing] There it is.

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The Dove Inn, in Micheldever, witnessed pioneering motorist Evelyn Ellis setting out in his imported French car to become the first known motorist on an English highway.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): It was the year 1895, and we're hoping to get a sense of what that first ever car journey was like with vintage motoring enthusiast, Lawrie.

Hello!

Nice to meet you.

Very nice to meet you too.

This is Peter, and I'm Chris.

- Hello, Chris.

- Hi.

Hello.

- Hello, Peter.

All right, now, tell us about this.

Yeah, explain this.

It's a 1900 George Richard, French-built.

PETER DAVISON: 1900?

LAWRIE: 1900, yes, yes.

PETER DAVISON: Right.

Very similar to a-- to horse and carriage.

Yes, of course.

Yeah.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): It might look like a horse carriage, but it's propelled by a 3-liter engine.

And there's still a link to the age of the horse.

Like every car built since, its output is measured in horsepower, in this case, three horsepower.

How much of this is as it was?

I mean-- It's fairly original.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Is this-- - Yeah.

Well, we imagine it was still original.

Yes.

So it works now, it's in working order, is it?

Yes.

Well, we hope so.

Oh, so we might get it to go in it?

If I can get it started, yes.

[laughs] [starting engine] [laughs] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Ellis set off on his groundbreaking journey from this very spot.

And, like this car, Ellis's horseless carriage had a top speed of 20 miles an hour.

OK.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): But the speed limit in Britain was only four miles per hour.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Ellis wanted to show how this rule was holding up the introduction of the car to Britain, and he deliberately set out to break the speed limit.

[music playing] ♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): But on this journey, we don't seem in any danger of doing that.

Not going very well, I'm afraid.

Is it not?

No.

Yeah.

A bit of an incline.

And this is what you sometimes have to do.

Hey!

Don't leave us on our own.

LAWRIE: I was going to get out, get out and push.

Maybe we should all get out and push, you think?

Oh, careful.

I'm worried.

Should we get out and push?

[music playing] We can't have you doing this.

- No, we can't.

Come on.

Oh.

♪ ♪ Are we going to keep going backwards like this?

I will keep going backwards for a little while, yeah.

Are you in control of it as it rolls back?

- No.

- What?

- No.

- No?

[laughter] ♪ ♪ OK, watch, there's a metal post in the-- the side thing there.

Don't mind you don't hit that.

Mind the rocks here.

Yeah, the rocks.

Turn round.

Yeah.

♪ ♪ Brilliantly done.

Well done.

Now we'll try and start it again.

It wasn't running very well, unfortunately.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): The fact is that Lawrie's car is the best part of 120 years old, so it's not surprising that it's a little unreliable.

I think we should push this back to the Dove Inn, don't you?

Yeah, OK.

[laughter] CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): When Evelyn Ellis made his trailblazing trip back in 1895, his horseless carriage was brand new, and he covered 50 miles.

His stunt saw the speed limit raised from four miles an hour to 14.

OK, ready?

Right.

Well, when I said, come on, come with me on a journey down the A30, I didn't quite anticipate it-- anticipate pushing the car down the A30.

[laughter] ♪ ♪ Ah!

[laughs] Yes!

Would you like to get in?

OK!

Well done.

Well-- CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Britain might have had its first car journey, but at the start of the 20th century, motoring was exclusively the pursuit of the very wealthy and a long way off being accessible to the masses.

Come on!

♪ ♪ Well done.

Well done to you, too.

[interposing voices] Good for us.

Good for us.

Considering the-- the total number of years, I thought we did rather well.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Following our valiant efforts to kick start a vintage vehicle, we motor on down the A30 into Wiltshire and reminisce about the condition of our own first cars.

PETER DAVISON: My first car was a Hillman Minx, which I bought for 60 pounds while I was at drama school.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): This is me and some of the friends I used to drive down to Cornwall with, shamelessly posing alongside my Hillman Minx.

PETER DAVISON: The third gear made a horrible noise right from the beginning.

And when I came to get an MOT, it turned out that about 80% or 90% of the car was filler.

It was chicken wire and-- and-- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, it was just a mess.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): But if Peter's first car was a wreck, mine was an antique.

It was an Austin 7.

Right, well.

It cost 25 quid.

The gear stick screwed in.

Yeah.

And I was once driving it and I changed gear and it came off my hand.

It's a bit of a design flaw, isn't it, the gear stick that unscrews?

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Flawed or not.

I loved that first car of mine.

It was a classic even when I had it.

Back in the 1930s, it was the kind of car that the average wage-earner could afford, kick starting motoring for the masses.

A family day out would never be the same again.

Are we in Cornwall yet?

[laughs] Not quite.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): As Peter and I are doing this trip with a nostalgic nod to the 1930s, I've been reading up on yesteryear's rules of the road.

"A gentleman motorist recognizes only two speeds, a moderate tootle and a fair old lick."

OK.

which-- is fair enough.

And what would you say this was a moderate tootle?

I guess this must be a moderate tootle.

I don't think we've got up to a fair old lick yet, have we?

No.

No.

[music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The A30 takes us tootling towards Dorset.

Like a proper old road, it meanders through unspoilt countryside and chocolate box villages, just as it did in the golden age of motoring.

It's an era that Chris is increasingly getting into the spirit of.

Well, I got to be honest, this is making my-- these are making my eyes water.

So-- What, the wind is?

Just a bit.

Yeah.

[laughs] Oh, fantastic.

Fantastic.

[music playing] ♪ ♪ CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): By the 1930s, a motoring revolution was underway.

Cars had become increasingly affordable to the middle classes.

A little past Yeovil, we're pulling off the A30 to see a beautifully preserved example of the most iconic mass-produced car ever made.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Wow.

PETER DAVISON: Look at that!

♪ ♪ CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): This is a Ford Model T.

15 million of these were manufactured.

By the mid '20s, they made up half of the world's cars.

The owner of this beauty is Model T aficionado, Chris.

It's the car that changed the world.

It put the world on wheels.

Before these, motoring was just for rich men, a plaything.

And Henry Ford made it accessible to millions.

Can we have a look at the engine?

Certainly.

Well, you'd be impressed to learn it's 2.9 liters.

Is it?

But it's only 20 horsepower.

How is it possible to get that little power out of a 2.9-liter engine?

CHRIS: Well, it was designed 110 years ago.

PETER DAVISON: Yeah, I suppose so, yeah.

Where do you take it?

Well, almost anywhere.

Not usually on motorways because you're cruising at less than 40 miles an hour.

So you take it out to the shops at the weekend, is it that?

- Yes, yes.

Oh, do you?

Yeah, I went to the supermarket in Crewkerne and a little old lady was there when I came out.

"Is this a Model T?"

"Yes."

"I did my courting in one of these."

[laughter] How are you treated by-- by other motorists when you are going to the supermarket?

Usually very well.

You get more smiles than you would in a Ferrari.

Oh, I'm sure.

Oh, yeah.

And what's the suspension like?

Well, you'll find out in a minute.

[laughs] [music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Chris has agreed to let me behind the wheel of his Model T, but its operation is a little different to the modern car.

There's three foot pedals, the familiar clutch and brake, but also a reverse pedal.

The accelerator or throttle is a lever on the steering column.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Yeah right.

PETER DAVISON: That's funny.

[engine trying to start] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): This will require some concentration on my part.

Right.

So at the moment-- so I need to get that down to the thing if I want to go into high gear.

So that now-- You're ready to go.

You need a little bit more throttle.

PETER DAVISON: Right, OK.

[music playing] CHRIS: If you get the feel of it.

♪ ♪ And you-- you're-- you're in high gear.

That's good.

That's fine.

Just just-- take your foot off and control it on the throttle.

PETER DAVISON: Yeah, I can feel my-- my right foot moving towards that pedal.

Then I have to force myself to take my right foot off.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): It feels a bit like learning how to drive all over again.

CHRIS: See, it's not difficult.

It's just different.

Yeah.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Car control design wasn't regulated until 1958.

Back in the '30s, when a driver sat behind the wheel of a new car, they had to readjust to controls laid out wherever that manufacturer had decided to put them.

CHRIS: Every part of your brain is fighting your instinct.

PETER DAVISON: Yes, it is.

CHRIS: You understand how it works.

You understand what you've got to do.

But if something appeared coming the other way, you wouldn't have a chance.

PETER DAVISON: Ah!

[car horn] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Time to leave the Model T behind.

Back at a set of more familiar controls, I motor off confidently down the A30 towards Devon with gusto, prompting Chris to start instructing me on 1930s driving etiquette.

Spit it out, Chris, spit it out.

[laughter] Good manners beget good driving.

Right, yes.

Nowhere is a gracious act appreciated and a boorish act resented more keenly than on the highway.

Yes.

Well, I mean, I must admit, I have, over the years, fallen victim to that-- that thing that happens when they get inside a car.

It becomes this little bubble of your own territory, your own little tank.

Yeah, yeah.

And you do get a bit aggressive from time to time.

So, you know, if you feel if someone sort of pushes it in front of you, you-- you tend to beep, beep.

[music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Driving etiquette may have died a death since the '30s, but other motoring institutions are still very much alive.

The era of the car saw the birth of organizations like the AA and the RAC.

Not only did they provide breakdown assistance and road maps, the AA recommended places for motorists to dine.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Even a French tire company got in on the act, and, in 1926, began awarding restaurants with stars.

Well done.

And this is lunch, is it?

Are we going to have lunch here?

I believe we are, yeah, I think so.

Yeah.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): We veered off the A30 and dropped in at a rather swanky joint to find out more from Michelin-starred Chef, Michael Caines.

Ah, Chris.

How are you?

Welcome to my kitchen.

- Michael, my man.

How are you?

- Great to see you.

Good to meet you too.

Just explain a car company, a tire company, a French tire company and Cordon Bleu cooking and Michelin stars.

What is it all about?

Back in those days, you can imagine, anybody that could afford to go and buy a car was also likely to spend a lot of money in good restaurants.

Cars were very, as you can imagine, very unreliable.

Michelin created this guide for all of their affluent travelers to go and stay in hotels that were next to garages, so they would have a nice lunch whilst their oil was changed or tires were changed, or stay overnight and have their cars serviced.

So that's how the guide started.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Time for me to get stuck into making Peter's lunch.

[music playing] In the 1930s, stylish art deco roadhouses sprang up along the nation's highways, offering fine dining and entertainment 24 hours a day.

The car and this glamorous world of bright young things went hand in hand.

And I'd have to say, Chris, that's a fantastic effort.

♪ ♪ Thank you so much.

Good evening, sir.

I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.

PETER DAVISON: Wow.

Now be very careful, sir.

The plates are very, very hot.

- Right.

Did you make this?

Yes, sir.

I-- PETER DAVISON: You did?

- I was part of-- I was part and parcel-- OK.

Did you make both of them?

Sort of.

[laughs] No, I didn't make both of them.

Just tuck in.

- All right, OK.

Just tuck in.

Don't-- don't-- Don't say anything?

Well don't-- no, don't say anything.

And don't-- in fact, don't say anything anyway.

Are you allowed to sit there, actually, because aren't you-- No, not really.

No, not really, but let's go.

[laughter] Mm!

How's that?

Lovely.

I'm so glad.

PETER DAVISON: You should do this more often.

Now why aren't we staying here?

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: It starts at 305 pounds a night.

[music playing] ♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON: It was a very beautiful dish, Chris.

I appreciated the-- CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Well, the effort, the effort.

I will admit to effort.

PETER DAVISON: Is that all you'll admit to?

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: And the desire to please.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Our Michelin dining experience is a reminder of just how much the car started to shape society in the '30s and beyond.

But even in my day, I don't remember the roads being as rammed as they are now.

I remember playing, when we lived for the years in London, was after the war, so between 1945 and 1950.

And we lived in Addison road, which is the road that runs from Holland Park right through-- I know.

--and across High Street, Cairnhill-- - Permanent traffic jam.

- Yeah, yeah.

Well, in those days, I remember we used to play in the road and play cricket.

And every now and again-- PETER DAVISON: Yeah.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: --but only every now and again, we'd pause to let a car go by.

And a car would, fut, fut, fut, would go by.

Yeah.

And every car that went by was black.

Yeah.

[laughs] It was!

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Nearly 160 miles into our trip the A30 takes us towards Exeter, and we are suddenly confronted by a road that one would definitely not be able to play cricket on.

PETER DAVISON: OK, now, this is interesting because now-- It's a motorway.

Yeah, we've left-- now we've left the good old A30.

We're on a bloody motorway.

Yeah.

Now, what happens for the next few miles is the A30 gets swallowed up by the M5.

OK, now don't panic.

Don't panic.

It'll be fine.

[music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Fortunately, the A30 will rematerialize on the other side of Exeter.

It's the UK's third-longest A road.

We're following the route my family would take when we drove to Cornwall back in the '60s.

And I'm introducing Christopher to an old Davison family tradition.

PETER DAVISON: You're probably wondering why we're here.

Well, this is what I used to do.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: What, when you were a kid?

After a while, after we'd been driving about two hours, heavy traffic, we would stop in a layby, and my mother would have-- we'd have a little picnic.

She'd have a little picnic packed.

And it never once occurred to me that if we just turned up anywhere, we would have found-- Somewhere pretty.

--a nice little village with a nice little village green.

Of course, in those days, of course, the petrol was all heavily leaded as well, so we were doing our brains untold damage.

I'd look at it as insane, but a fair sign of British eccentricity at its finest.

Cheers, Chris.

Cheers to you.

It's a wonderful way to spend a day.

No?

[music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): All the guidebooks of the 1930s encouraged the motorist to explore the vast expanse of wild moors and timeless lanes of Dartmoor.

So, detouring off the A30, that's exactly what we're going to do.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): I've decided it's my turn to get behind the wheel of our roadster.

I'm not much of a petrol head, so I'll be taking it easy, but first I need to get into the blooming thing.

Oh!

Ah!

My God.

I'm never leaving this car now.

Whose idea was this?

Oh!

OK.

Right.

OK.

Now, right, this is the steering wheel.

[laughs] And-- [engine revving] CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: That was unnecessary.

[laughs] PETER DAVISON: Now, when I tap the dashboard, I want you to do an emergency stop.

All right?

And then we'll go for the three-point turn.

Or-- or in my case, the seven-point turn.

Did you pass your driving test first time?

- No.

- You didn't?

No.

Oh, well, I did.

[laughs] Well I knew-- I knew you did by the way you asked me.

[music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The driving test was only introduced in 1935.

Before then, anyone aged 17 and over could get behind the wheel of a car and drive with minimal instruction.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Not surprisingly, in 1934, 7,000 pedestrians were killed by cars.

♪ ♪ Today's number is a quarter of that, and there's at least 15 times as many cars on the road now.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Fortunately, Chris did finally pass his test.

Now, as the road across Dartmoor rises up, we get a proper sense of its beautiful rolling expanse.

PETER DAVISON: Look at-- look at this.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Yeah.

Now, this is very much like the Yorkshire Dales, isn't it?

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Yeah.

Yeah.

I love driving off the beaten track.

I mean, I just love it.

PETER DAVISON: Yeah.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Not really pressed for time, Chris and I decide to stop for another little refreshment.

And one of our old guidebooks makes an intriguing recommendation, an ancient roadside pub situated in the middle of Dartmoor.

Its author, the celebrated travel writer H.V.

Morton, visited here in 1927.

[music playing] PETER DAVISON: "Beside a road that cuts straight over the moor like a stretched tape stands an inn.

This inn is small, white and built low, as if crouching in defense from the wild winds, which in winter must make the chimneys scream.

All good inns should possess a boast.

But the boast of Warren Inn is the strangest I've heard.

It boasts that the fire in the bar has not been quenched for 100 years."

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Morton stopped off at the Warren Inn to investigate this tall tale.

And so shall we.

- Doesn't that look-- - Oh, yes.

That looks like an inn, doesn't it?

It looks like, low and white and crouching from the wind.

The Warren Inn.

[music playing] ♪ ♪ Oh!

Right.

Ah, what a bracing day.

- Do you see any smoke?

- What?

Coming out of the chimneys?

No, I don't.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): If the fire in the Warren Inn hadn't been put out in 100 years when Morton was here in 1927, that means, if it still hasn't been put out now, it's been constantly alight for nearly two centuries.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): I find that hard to believe.

There we go.

Now, the big question is, has it been alight for 100 years or 180 years?

Let's ask.

Did you-- did you light this fire this morning?

That's always been lit.

Never gone out.

- Is that right?

Never gone out.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Do I look skeptical?

[laughter] You do.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): When Morton visited here in 1927, he too was skeptical about the Warren Inn's boast.

But like the gents behind the bar today, the landlord back then was absolutely insistent the fire had never been put out.

This is a known legend around here that the fire has not been out-- LANDLORD: Oh, yes.

Very much tradition.

PETER DAVISON: Very much part of the fabric of the Warren Inn.

Of the local folklore and the fabric of the pub.

See, what I want you to say is, I want you to lean forward very quietly and say, of course it's gone out.

- Never.

Never.

LANDLORD: You're a doubter!

PETER DAVISON: Well, I just-- - A doubter!

We don't have doubters over here.

No, you've both got very honest faces.

So I bow to you.

PETER DAVISON: This is very interesting.

Found this-- this thing about this landlord, right, who, in 1929, apparently, this is from the local paper, shot himself-- LANDLORD: Ah, sure.

--in the bar.

Just here, right behind the bar.

Just where Tony's standing.

PETER DAVISON: Yeah, right there.

You see?

PETER DAVISON: You can reenact it.

LANDLORD: He's got his foot in the blood.

So this is 1929.

H.V.

Morton came here in 1927.

This must be the innkeeper, the landlord who was here, who H.V.

Morton-- - Talked to.

- --spoke to, yeah.

Yeah.

And two years later, he shot himself with a shotgun.

You don't have the same effect on people, do you?

Well, I could do.

You never know.

Hide the gun.

I'll try and get you one.

[laughter] CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): We leave the Warren Inn satisfied that its legend is true, and set off west across Dartmoor at a leisurely pace.

I love driving on roads like this, but I didn't really appreciate the joys of getting behind the wheel until I was well into my 20s.

But did you ever go, when you were younger, did you ever go on dodgems or anything like that?

- Oh, yeah.

- You used to-- Oh, yeah.

But I remember enjoying the dodgems most, not when I was a kid, but as a teenager, sort of 14, 15, showing off.

Yes.

And girls and rock and roll music, or just-- just pre-rock and roll.

Did you have the slicked-back hair and everything?

I did by the time I was 15, 16.

Yeah, yeah.

[music playing] CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): This is me at 16, a rebel without a car, the terror of the dodgems.

Reminiscing has given me a taste to have a go again.

And to the west of Dartmoor we're stopping off at an old fairground.

PETER DAVISON: Whoa!

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: I feel in need of childish pursuits.

And we have come to the right place, haven't we?

[music playing] ♪ ♪ FAIRGROUND ATTENDANT: A couple of rules for the dodgems.

It's one way around the track only, please.

And no head to head bumping.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The dodgems were an American invention known in the US as bumper cars.

And the ride was introduced to Britain in 1928, just as the motoring boom was about to explode.

Oi!

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Although clearly we've found an excuse to have fun, there's also a chance for us to learned something new.

Guy Belshaw is a fairground historian.

The dodgem car was a chance for the sort of working class to jump in a car and drive your own car.

These people had no experience of driving a car.

Couldn't imagine what it was like, drive like lunatics, bash into each other and it was an instant hit.

It was a sensation.

But they used to be called bumper cars.

The proper name is-- is dodgems.

The bumper car was a sort of American term, really, but the showmen operators certainly wanted them to be called dodgems because they didn't want you to bump head on into each other because they're quite high maintenance.

Come on, old timer!

Ah!

No bumping!

Sorry, it's his fault.

PETER DAVISON: Is this an example of just the British attitude to just curbing any fun you might have?

They were deliberately called dodgems because they wanted to employ the skills to dodge them and not crash into them.

But the fun, of course, is crashing into them.

I gotcha, hey!

Hey!

Boo!

Hey!

PETER DAVISON: How much would it cost to go on the dodgems when they-- you know, when they first appeared?

When they first came out it was sixpence a go in the 1930s, so that's quite a lot of money, actually.

Not as expensive as a car.

Oh, no.

No, a car was a luxury-- Really?

--the working class couldn't really aspire to in the 1930s.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Nevertheless, by the end of the 1930s, there were over 2 million cars on British roads.

Horses were disappearing from the highway.

The car was king.

Look, mush!

[laughs] Hey!

[music playing] ♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Having got that out of our system, we motor on.

The A30 now takes us across the county line into Cornwall.

But we veer off towards the coast to find tonight's accommodation, which is close to a spot that has fired up Chris's love of nostalgia.

♪ ♪ CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): We're staying right next to one of Cornwall's most iconic locations, Tintagel Castle, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur.

♪ ♪ Our 1930s guidebooks paint a wildly romantic picture of this place, and I want to see for myself if it lives up to those descriptions.

It's closed by the time we arrive, so we head for our hotel, the aptly named Camelot Castle.

But I have a job ahead of me, convincing Peter of Arthur's authenticity.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Well, just look at what I found.

In the lobby, it's a sort of advert.

King Arthur's Castle Hotel, the most romantic spot in England, situation unrivaled, overlooking the ruins of King Arthur's castle.

This is where we are now?

Yes.

Hot and cold seawater baths, electric light and passenger lifts.

What more do you need?

Electric-- [laughs] That's fantastic.

You really buy into this, don't you, this King Arthur?

Well I choose-- I choose to, yeah.

So you-- so you actually believe, not in the legend, you believe that King Arthur and his round table and his knights existed in this area?

I would like to think that.

Do you remember-- Is that not the same thing?

No.

It seems to me, so obviously a legend.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: You'll be telling me next that Robin Hood didn't exist.

Now, listen, there was this guy called-- called Mee.

Yeah.

You've heard of Mee, who was probably the best selling travel person of the time.

"At Tintagel, we can believe in anything.

It is the magic bit of England.

The past is alive.

The poetry true and mosaic and imagination are the only thing.

We know as well as any Cornish man, that the spirit of King Arthur is in this wild place."

I rest my case.

Now, my dear friend, my dear, gullible friend, all-- all he's saying is that it is in our imagination.

Listen, I-- I do so want to see it.

[music playing] ♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): It's the following morning, and we're setting out on Chris's quest to find the spirit of Arthur in Tintagel.

Oh, blimey, I'm not that good with heights, tell you the truth.

So-- Here, let me help you, Chris.

Thank you.

PETER DAVISON: How many steps is it?

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: A hundred and something.

Yeah, 115 or something like that.

That's 100 too many.

It's a long way to walk, to get your dreams punctured, Chris, can I just say that?

- No, no.

It may-- it may all turn out right.

OK.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: See, look, they even did-- they even did crazy paving in those days.

Look.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): It was during the 1930s when archaeologists revealed that Tintagel was indeed occupied in the dark ages, rekindling links to Arthur.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Yes, but it's not like they found a sword in a stone, Chris, is it?

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Now, the point is, look, there are remains, or there are traces of-- Blah, blah, blah, blah.

--of a fortress built in the sixth century, right?

Here we are.

Come on, come on.

This is-- this is the moment you've been waiting for.

Look, it's piles of slate.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: That's very exciting.

PETER DAVISON: But the question is, does this make you believe in the legend of King Arthur more than you believed it when we were sitting in that nice, warm hotel?

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: To be honest, no, not-- I hoped there'd be a sign somewhere saying, "And this is where Arthur used to have his boiled eggs."

[laughs] No, I'm not going-- I'm not going up there.

There's no railings.

Cut me out.

PETER DAVISON: Here endeth Chris's-- [laughter] No, if there's no railings, there's no me.

Historical expedition, there's no railings.

It is-- He can't go any further.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: It's still amazing, isn't it?

And I must-- we have to go back before we go on, because look-- Oh, you shouldn't have.

Silly me.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Whether you believe in the myth of Arthur or not, there's no doubting this is a stunning spot.

After dropping off Chris's keys to Camelot, we're off on our final stretch, still bickering about King Arthur.

I don't want to debunk the legend, but as long as you-- one appreciates it, it's-- it's-- it's a legend.

It's a slightly magical thing that we all kind of know was extremely unlikely to be true.

Oh.

That's all I'll say.

But-- I know.

But it's more-- it's more likely to be true than say, Star Wars, wouldn't you say?

Or is that-- I would say they're pretty much on a par, Chris.

Oh, OK.

[laughter] [music playing] ♪ ♪ CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): We're on the final leg of our journey between London and Land's End and our old coaching road, the A30, has taken us 240 miles all the way into the heart of Cornwall.

Can you see anything out of this window?

Not a thing.

We're all right?

PETER DAVISON: No, no, you're not all right.

Don't-- don't go first.

Now you can go.

Go, go, go.

Go, go.

[music playing] [laughs] CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Once remote and cut off, Cornwall has changed beyond all recognition since the motor car first arrived here a century ago.

Oh, no, not a traffic jam.

Oh, curses!

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): It was a phenomenon noted in the seminal motoring travel book about Cornwall, the Shell Guide, written by none other than the poet laureate John Betjeman.

He complains, "The motor car has made the greatest change of all.

Roads have been widened, blocks of houses have been taken down in picturesque porks-- ports to make way for huge car parks.

Petrol stations proliferate.

Huge hoardings to attract the motorists line the entrance to towns.

In the holiday season, lorries and cars trailing caravans and boats block lanes never intended for such heavy traffic."

[music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Of course, the car brought tourists to Cornwall, transforming the county.

PETER DAVISON: No, I think it's that one, isn't it?

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Oh, is it?

- I don't know.

I don't know.

No, that one.

No, it's that one!

- [bleep] Sorry, my fault.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): But the explosion of motorized transport on Cornish highways in the thirties wasn't all tourist traffic.

It was industrial too.

♪ ♪ Cornwall is a County famed for mining.

And stored in a museum near the A30, one of the earliest haulage trucks ever to roar along Cornwall's roads is lovingly maintained by lorry driver Malcolm and mechanic Rob.

PETER DAVISON: Wow.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: What year is this?

It's a 1934 ERF.

How many of these are-- were there made, these trucks?

I mean-- There was thousands of ERFs, yeah.

And which number is this of these trucks?

It's number 42.

PETER DAVISON: Number 42.

- Yeah, 42.

It's the 42nd one built?

It's the 42nd built, yeah.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, it's the second-oldest roadworthy ERF in existence in the whole world.

So it's very rare.

Very precious to us, yeah.

[music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Founded in 1933, the ERF Lorry Company was named after Edwin Richard Foden, who foresaw that the future of haulage lay in diesel power.

This lorry was used to transport freshly mined clay to pottery and ceramic manufacturers in the Midlands.

So Malcolm, before all this sort of thing happened, how was the clay transported?

The horses and carts would carry the clay to the ports anywhere, probably up to 10 miles.

PETER DAVISON: And how much would this lorry take?

How much load?

This one would carry about five tons.

PETER DAVISON: Oh, right.

Around what speed?

How fast would this go?

This had a top speed of around about 36 or 37 miles an hour.

Yeah, even so, I mean, that doesn't sound a lot today, but in those days, i think-- I think she was a bit of a flyer in those days.

Yeah.

- Wow.

PETER DAVISON: And it still runs?

It still runs.

Yeah, yeah.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): I'm being given the rare privilege of getting a spin in this grand old lady of the road.

PETER DAVISON: You all right, Chris?

You want a hand?

- Yeah.

I'm fine, I'm fine.

I'm fine.

To the manor-- to the manor born.

Why is it you get to go in there?

It's my years of experience.

PETER DAVISON: Oh, God.

And if you want the window down at all, or do you want the-- you just slide it down like on a railway carriage.

Oh, just like-- it's like the olden days.

Ready to go.

All right.

[engine starts] I love the smell of diesel in the morning.

[laughs] CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Trucks transformed the haulage business in 1930s Britain.

They could seamlessly transport materials from A to B, no getting to a port or loading onto a train.

And it saw the decline of the railway as the nation's main goods carrier.

Of course, there's no power steering on this.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: I appreciate that.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Since he was a boy, all Malcolm has wanted to be is a lorry driver.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: To be in a vehicle that's so old with somebody who's so enthusiastic about it.

And he talked about his-- it was his childhood dream.

How cool is that?

[music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): We're now within striking distance of Land's End.

So that we might arrive in style, we take the car's hood down.

But of course, as soon as we do-- Why don't you put the wipers-- Oh, well, there is that.

But, I mean, that's not my main problem.

Just a thought.

Yeah, look at that.

Can you do me a huge favor, Chris?

Can you just clean my glasses?

Yeah, of course.

See what that's like, and I'll do it again in time.

That's fine.

Have you enjoyed driving down the A30, Chris?

At the risk of being mawkish, it's been fantastic.

Yeah.

The-- the experience has been fab.

It's good spending time with you.

- Yeah.

- It's-- 40 years we've known each other.

BOTH: ♪ And it don't seem a day too long.

♪ The most important thing, I reckon, is that we've known each all these years.

I mean, huge gaps in between seeing each other.

Yeah.

And we've always managed to pick it up where we left off.

Yeah, absolutely, yeah.

But we've-- we have-- we have shared things on this that, why didn't we share them before?

[music playing] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Finally, we make it and our road trip comes to an end.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Right.

OK.

PETER DAVISON: This, believe it or not, is the last signpost in England.

Get out.

Let's go have a look.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: It's a lovely day for it.

PETER DAVISON: Yeah.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Oh, my God.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): And for the last time on this journey, we have to clamber out of this blooming car.

[sighs] So I suppose this could also be the-- the very first signpost in England.

But-- Well, it depends on which way you're coming.

Which way we're coming.

Yeah, 323 miles to London.

So that means the A30 is a few miles less than that because it starts at Hounslow and ends about half a mile up there.

CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: I think you put this down as an achievement.

Yeah, but I think this is-- this is the way you should see Land's End.

This really is the end of the land.

Kind of bleak.

- I think it's fantastic.

- You do?

- So moody, isn't it.

- Yes.

Look, I mean, just at that.

I mean-- PETER DAVISON: I know.

Yeah.

We should do some more.

Yeah.

Shall we?

Where shall we go next?

Go on.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): It's been an amazing trip, but there's still one last thing I want to achieve.

When I came here as a teenager in the late '60s with a group of friends, we took a photograph that remains very precious to me.

I want to recreate that with my friend of 40 years, Chris.

PETER DAVISON: This is a photograph of me and some friends of mine and when we came down to Land's End.

And when was this?

This, I guess this was about '70, ah, no, '68 or something like that.

So who-- there's you.

That's me.

And who are the others?

PETER DAVISON: That's Diane.

That's Matthew.

And that's Rick.

And that's Dave.

Now, Dave is-- would have taken the picture.

I mean, obviously he's not got the camera there.

I think he put the camera on the ground round about here.

Round about here.

And I think he's quite low down.

So and I think it was on a self-timer which is why he's looking slightly anxious.

So I reckon you're about here.

Yeah.

Just about there.

Right.

And look-- and look concerned.

That's it.

His camera's-- look about there.

Yeah, I'm around about here, and I'm kind of doing that.

[music playing] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪