Tony Robinson and Professor Emma Griffin discover how, as industrialisation transformed Britain, workers across the country joined together to fight for their rights. By the 1810s, steam engines were powering factories as never before, and Quarry Bank was no exception. But the steam-fuelled industrial boom had a tumultuous effect on the social fabric of the nation. Tony and Emma find out how a peaceful rally in Manchester ended in bloodshed. But the workers were determined to continue their fight, and Tony follows their story up to the 1840s, when demands for change evolved into the Chartist movement that swept the country. Tony also looks at the real story of mill worker Esther Price, who waged her own epic battle to secure her future.