The Industrial Revolution brings about change across Britain. The rural town of Berkhamsted is transformed when the London and Birmingham Railway company, led by chief engineer Robert Stephenson, builds a new railway line through Berkhamsted. Despite a public protest meeting held in the King’s Arms Hotel, construction goes ahead. An army of navvies brought in from the Midlands, Ireland, and the North invades Berkhamsted, and the genteel townsfolk are shocked by the frequent punch-ups on the High Street. The barbican of Berkhamsted Castle is demolished to make way for the new railway line, and seven young railway workers are killed in construction accidents.
