Walking Through History

Appealing to history buffs and ramblers alike, in this new four-part series Tony Robinson embarks on spectacular walks through some of Britains most historic landscapes in search of the richest stories from Britains past. In each programme, Tony follows a bespoke route that allows him to explore on foot both the history of a particularly colourful historical period or event, and the spectacular landscape in which those events unfolded. The walks are proper expeditions, with each one taking Tony a week.

Tony sets off on a 45 mile hike through the beautiful countryside of the Weald in Kent and the Downs of East Sussex to discover the areas rich and surprising Tudor heritage. At the impressively preserved Penshurst Place, author Philippa Gregory helps Tony relish the fate of the Grand Duke of Buckingham at the hands of the young Henry VIII. From there, he travels up what used to be secret paths to Hever Castle. Henrys saucy courting of the Boleyn girls at Hever comes as perhaps no surprise, but Tony travels on to find out how the monarchs reign brought not just fame and disaster to the women who caught his eye, but also wrought huge social, political, and industrial change to the country - and especially this area.

Tony heads off for a 45-mile walk across Wiltshire to tell the story of life and death in the last centuries of the Stone Age. His route over chalk downlands and Salisbury plain takes him through the greatest concentration of prehistoric sites in Europe. - I forgot to change over the times and lost the beginning of this.

In the late 18th century there was a sure-fire way to earn a living along the Cornish coast: smuggling. The tiny secretive harbours, beaches and secluded coves were ideal for the infamous illicit imports: brandy for the parson, tobacco for the clerk... Its also great walking country, as Tony discovers in his four-day trek along the stunning coastline between Plymouth and Falmouth.

The 1990s St Cuthbert Way stretches from Melrose to Lindisfarne and could have been the route taken by monks. Following the route over four days, showing the bringing of Christianity to Northumbria.

This walk explores the Victorianisation of Deeside.

On 30th June 1940 a plane full of German soldiers touched down at Guernsey airport. It was the start of 5 years of occupation. The traditional image of the Channel Islands is sun, sea and sandy beaches. But Tony embarks on a 5 day walk to explore the darkest chapter in the Islands history, which 70 years on is itself becoming a tourist draw. Starting out in Guernsey to uncover memories of the German aerial attack on the port and the invasion itself, Tony voyages to Jersey which is littered with physical reminders of the Nazi presence.

Englands Last Battle - West Country. In 1685, a rebel army landed at the pretty Dorset port of Lyme Regis and swept up through Somerset, pausing at Taunton to declare its leader, Duke of Monmouth, the rightful king.