Walking Through History

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.

It was 30 years after the Romans invaded Britain that they were ready to take on the challenge of conquering the Lake District. With the toughest landscape they had encountered in the country, peopled by a rebellious tribe, it was no small task. Tony Robinson tackles the journey, but, as he discovers on this 50-mile walk from Penrith past Ullswater to Ambleside and on to the Irish Sea at Ravenglass, the Romans encountered beauty and danger in equal measure.

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... It's also great walking country, as Tony discovers in his four-day trek along the stunning coastline between Plymouth and Falmouth.

The presenter walks along the Leeds Liverpool canal. Uncovering its impact and building.

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.

Tony Robinson travels along the beautiful North Norfolk coast, examining why it was so unaffected by the dynamic Victorian developments that changed other parts of the country so much.