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Touring Britain

David Heathcote

Ian Lilley

Debbie Christie

Touring Britain: Episode 1: The Victorian Way

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Episode 1

Episode 1: The Victorian Way

The Victorian Way

BBC Four - Touring Britain, The Victorian Way

David Heathcote uses a 1887 Baedeker Guide to explore modern-day Britain.

Cultural historian David Heathcote uses a 1887 Baedeker Guide to explore Britain, discovering hidden treasures popular with Victorians but rarely visited today.

Cultural historian David Heathcote uses his favourite old 1887 Baedeker Guide to explore modern-day Britain, discovering unexpected delights and hidden treasures which were popular with Victorian tourists but are rarely visited today.

Following in the footsteps of early American tourists who arrived off the boats in Liverpool, he takes the advice of the Guide and discovers 'the most fashionable of Welsh watering places'. The Guide then recommends a trip to the salt mines, popular with American visitors 100 years ago and, surprisingly, just as interesting today.

He then travels on to Manchester, recommended by Baedeker as a hotbed of music, politics and radical thinking and discovers that the spirit of what attracted the curious visitors 100 years ago lives on.

The journey ends in York where modern day tourists follow in the footsteps of their Victorian counterparts and enjoy the magnificent medieval city and cathedral.

As he travels, Heathcote explores the story behind the guide books that were so influential in creating the independent traveller as we know it today.

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Cultural historian David Heathcote uses old travel guide books to explore Britain

Cultural historian David Heathcote uses old travel guide books to explore modern-day Britain

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Touring Britain

Episode 1: The Victorian Way

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