Today on Ancient Pathways, Tony follows Offa’s Dyke and it is a pathway that runs along the border between England and Wales.  The run time for this episode is 46:47. 

Offa’s Dyke stretches for 80 miles and is the border between England and Wales.  It is Britain’s longest monument.  Tony is going to walk this border and explore the history of King Offa and the border.  He will walk north along the dyke path and he will learn about the ancient English and Welsh Kingdoms.  He will finish his walk at Welshpool.  He will follow William Wordsworth, face the Welsh Dragon, and take in a rare coin that was issued by King Offa.

Unfortunately, a lot of people are not familiar with Offa’s Dyke even though it was a massive structure.  In fact, sometimes it can be a challenge to find in the landscape for many of its miles.  However, it was a massive piece of engineering on par with the Ancient Pyramids.  It was a place of ancient legends and myths.  Offa’s Dyke defined what it meant to be English and what it meant to be Welsh.  It took thousands of people and hundreds of man-hours to build.

It was only recently King Offa and his achievements were rediscovered.  He was the king who created the English Penny.  At the time of his death, he was known as the King of the English.  Tony plans on revealing more about King Offa later in the episode.  Tony continues on his walk takes in the sights of Tilton Abbey and follows along the trail of poet William Wordsworth.  Tilton Abbey drew a whole host of artistic people were drawn to this abandoned abbey.  In this episode, there is a choir singing in the abbey which Tony thoroughly enjoys.

Tony continues on his walk and discovers a cave that may have been connected with the legend of King Arthur.  It had been discovered by a woman who had lost her goat.  She came to a wood cutter’s camp and asked if they saw the goat.  There were some caves nearby that they heard from bleating at.  They dug out a bit more of the cave.  Inside was discovered a giant skeleton and it was soon the talk of the community.  However, it was given to a man in Bristol who stupidly put on a ship and the skeleton was lost.  Many locals believe that the skeleton existed and that it was the bones of King Arthur.  The King Arthur myths had their roots in the Wales area.

Tony continues his exploration of the caves along the dyke.  After taking a killer trail up one set of caves he meets up with Tim Hoverd, an archeologist who is working on a set of caves.  There were two individuals that were found in one cave system that dates back to the period after the Romans left.  Tony then learns about the dragon legends that Wales was so well known for.  He steps into a church and views a fresco that was discovered in the church featuring St. George and the Dragon.

Tony made his way to Hay Bluff and it was the highest point on the path.  He takes into some lovely views before heading down to an event.  This event is a favorite of Tony and it is a reading festival.  It is known as the Hay Festival and it is a place where ideas can come together.  He tours the bookshop of the festival and it was a festival that inspired writers around the world.  The bookshop Tony went to was massive and very impressive.  He was looking for a particular travel book in this bookshop.  Where else do Tony’s travels take him along the Offa’s Dyke?  What else does he learn about the King?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more about this border.

This episode was divided into chapters on the Timeline YouTube Channel, but the title was completely wrong.  Anyway, this was a delightful episode and the information was very well done.  I like that Tony went into Time Team mode at some of the sights.  The nice thing about this series is that you really do get some of the hidden history.  I also enjoyed the book festival.  Overall, this would be on my potential list of documentaries to show.

Good morning, ready for a walking tour of Britain?  Take a tour with Tony Robinson on the ancient pathways of Great Britain.  Today’s episode looks at the Legend of the Hound of Baskerville.  The run time for this episode is 46:52.

Tony Robinson hikes across Dartmoor and follows Sherlock Homes and the pilgrim way.  He walks through the routes to learn about paganism and Christianity.  Dartmoor has been described as the last great wilderness.  Mankind has lived in Dartmoor since the Stone Age.  It is a land of stories, tall tales, and time.  There is a network of ancient routes throughout Dartmoor, so why is Dartmoor so vast and untamed?

Tony’s journey begins at Buckfast Abbey.  It has been an abbey for one thousand years and is at the edge of Dartmoor.  Buckfast Abbey was mentioned in the Domesday Book.  This abbey has seen highs and lows.  It was re-established by French monks exiled from their own abbey.  They worked to rebuild the abandoned abbey and cultivate the land around the abbey.  Tony talks with the abbot to learn about the Abbot’s Way.  The Abbot’s Way is marked with a series of crosses.  Tony begins his walk.

Along his walk, he encounters Guy Hayward singing.  I have to say that Guy has a very nice-sounding voice.  They walk together and Tony learns more about the history of the Abbot’s way.  He sees the largest cross on the way called the Nun’s Cross.  It was there under the reign of King Henry III.  After this cross, Tony makes his way up the first of a series of three hills.  Eventually, he encounters a stone monument stuck in the ground.  What is this stone's meaning?  Was it part of a monument like Stonehenge?  Or was it a way marker?  We may never know.

Dartmoor is a legendary place that fuels the imagination.  One of those legends is the pixie.  The pixies often sent travelers in the wrong way.  Luckily for Tony, he knows a way to combat this and he turns his coat inside out.  He then learns about Pixie Day and they were caught trying to silence the church bells.  They were banished to a cave in which Tony paid his respects to the pixies.

Dartmoor also provided inspiration for Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would walk the Dartmoor to find inspiration for his writing.  The landscape provided the author for his writing.  Sherlock Holmes had been killed off in a previous book, however was resurrected in The Hound of the Baskervilles.  Then there is a short little clip of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about his views on faith.  Although he encounters a dog, Tony encounters the real animals of the Dartmoor: the Dartmoor ponies.  They were gentle ponies and were used for work.  It makes me think of Queen Elizabeth II.

Tony then makes Sheepstor Church and encounters a group of bell ringers.  He meets one of the bell ringers who happens to be a third-generation bell ringer.  Tony learns about the legend of a nearby lake.  The bell ringers tried to measure the depth of the lake with six bell ropes, however, this experiment failed.  The local water board said that it was sixteen feet deep, however, the locals dispute this number.  They say that the water board never measured the lake properly.

Tony then encounters the Dartmoor Prison, which is known as Britain’s Alcatraz.  If an inmate managed to escape, all they could see was miles of green of a vast landscape.  After this detour to Dartmoor, Tony then learns about a Bronze Age Settlement.  He is thrilled with encountering this settlement.  Where else does Tony’s walk take him?  What else does Tony learn about Dartmoor?  What is significant about the watch he carries at the start of the episode?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more!

I am delighted to be sharing this series from Tony Robinson.  His enthusiasm for learning is contagious.  The walk was very well done and the information was very good.  I would show this in both a history class as well as an English class because of the Sherlock Holmes connection.

Good morning and now Tony Robinson is going to learn how Queen Victoria fell in love with the Scottish Highlands.  The Scottish Highlands were considered a mysterious land and because of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, it became a popular tourist destination.  The run time for this episode is 47:18.  The episode is called Victoria and Albert’s Highland Fling.

Tony is walking through the Scottish Highlands a place that was populated by barbarians in kilts.  It was a place closed off to outsiders.  Both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert fell in love with this region of Scotland.  Eventually, it would become a popular tourist destination.  Tony will explore Killcrankie Pass, Blair Castle, Cairngorms National Park, Braemar, and Balmoral Castle.  Tony begins his walk on the high street and takes in a whole lot of tartans.  Is this street set up for the locals or was it set up for the tourist?  He is looking to discover the creation of the Scottish brand.  The center of the rebranding of the Scottish Highland Rebranding was Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Tony will begin his walk at Pitlocrchy, the gateway of the highlands.  He will walk through Killcrankie Pass and learn about how the Scotts were rebellious.  He will take in a sight that Queen Victoria knew well at Blair Castle.  On day two he will hike over a mountain and learn about the clearances and how they impacted Scotland.  Eventually, he will spend time at the Bramer Games before reaching Balmoral Castle.  ON the Final day he will learn about Loch Muick and learn about Queen Victoria’s Legacy in the highlands.

Queen Victoria’s trip to the Highlands would begin at Killcrankie Pass.  No British monarch had ever traveled that far north before.  It was here that the first Jacobite uprising took place and it is here that Alistar Moffat meets with Tony to talk about this rebellion.  The Highlands were known as Jacobite territory and these rebels were led by Viscount Dundee.  He led them to victory over the British soldiers at Killcrankie.  Tony learns as to whether or not they wore kilts in this battle.  However, the Highlanders were eventually defeated and the British Government brutally suppressed the Highlanders.  How did Queen Victoria decide to come to the Scottish Highlands?

Tony meets with Kate Williams who talks about how Queen Victoria decided to come up.  Sir Walter Scott wrote about the beauty of Scotland and both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert loved Sir Walter Scott.  Both wanted to seek the Scotland of Sir Walter’s romance.  King George IV went to Edinburgh in a kilt which transformed the tartan into high fashion.  However, Victoria and Albert had time and they would go deeper into Scotland.  When they got to the Highlands Prince Albert felt like he had been transported back to Germany.  Both Kate and Tony go to Blair Castle and take a peak at the archives and learn that Prince Albert was the driving force behind these Highland Visits.

After this trip, Tony continues on his walk.  Tony is traveling through the great Scottish Estate.  The Scottish lords owned huge swathes of land.  As he walks, he runs into the spring that Queen Victoria drank from.  She declared it the best water she had ever drank and would only drink that water.  Perhaps the servants told her that the water came from that spring, at least that is what Tony would have done.  Eventually Tony gets some four-legged help to continue on his journey.  Day one concludes and he continues his way across three historic estates, following the track that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert took.  What does Tony learn about the Scottish clearances?  Where else does Tony’s travels take him?  Does Tony take part in the Braemer Games?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out.

The scenery of the highlands was lovely and you could tell why Queen Victoria fell in love with the area.  This episode was also divided into chapters which allows for easy breakdown and viewing.  Due to Outlander taking place in the Scottish Highlands, I would recommend this for a literature classroom.  It was a delightful episode and one I would consider showing to a geography class.

I hope you are enjoying the summer so far and I really hope that you are enjoying Tony’s travels through Great Britain.  Just a heads up, I may be missing one episode of the Walking Through Britain series.  It was sixteen episodes long.  I will post a review when I find it from an official source.  In this episode, Tony is heading to Lancashire to explore the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the roots of Industrial Britain.  This is the single longest man-made waterway in the United Kingdom.  The run time for this episode is 47:09.  The episode is called The Way to Wigan Pier.

Liverpool has had an extraordinary history, one-third of trade went through this port city.  Liverpool was the hub of trans-Atlantic commerce.  The success was only possible because of the canal.  This canal went into the heart of Britain.  Tony will follow the Leeds section of the canal.  He will begin his journey in downtown Liverpool.  He follows the canal north on a three-day walk.  He travels through Lancashire's agricultural lands.  He continues along to canal to discover the history and restoration of the canal.  He visits a canal settlement before ending his journey to Wigan Pier.

Unusually for this episode, Tony will begin his walk in the heart of downtown Liverpool.  Here, he meets William Ashworth, an industrial historian, to learn about the canal's importance.  When Liverpool built its first dock it was a tiny city and with the Canal Liverpool was able to explode.  The city leaders would meet with the Leeds city leaders to talk about the potential of the canal.  However, there was a debate as to the route the canal would take.  After this talk, Tony looks for the start of the canal.  He then takes in the sights of the dock and the locks that link Liverpool to the Canal.  Eventually, he gets to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

He meets a jam historian to learn about the Hartley Jam Factory.  Her name is Pam Corbin and she is making strawberry jam.  1.3 million jam jars were produced a week from this factory.  Tony then tours a horse race track that is home to the Grand National.  It was home to the steeplechase races and even King George V attended these races.  Day one concludes and on day two Tony will head into the countryside.

Day Two begins with Tony walking alongside the canal and now he is looking for how the canal was originally made.  I was almost expecting Prunella Scales and Timothy West to make an appearance because they love canals.  Tony arrives at one of the first bridges that was put over the canal and he points out the erosion from the ropes that were used to pull the barges through the canal.  The canal was built in mile-long sections.  The canal was dug into trenches and then lined to prevent it from leaking.  Both people and livestock were used to pound down the lining.  The mile lengths were contracted out to separate contractors, which helped move the work forward.  As it was made, the canal was starting to transform the local's lives.  They would build houses along the canal.  Horses were used to tow the canal barges and it is here that Tony cheats and meets the only horses that still pull boats on the canal.  After this detour, Tony returns to his walk along the canal. 

He arrives in the town of Burscough and discusses the opening of canal.  Both goods and people were transported along the canal.  He learns about the Lawson family and learns about the boat that they used to move along the canal.  They still have the last iron barge on the canal and the family talks about their life on the canal.  What else does Tony learn about the Leeds and Liverpool Canal?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

This was another episode divided into chapters, making it easy to find clips and break up the episode for lectures.  It would have been interesting to see at least Timothy West talk with Tony about the history of the canal.  This was a really well done episode and I would pair it with Great Canal Journeys about the Liverpool and Leeds Canal.