Friday, October 10, 2008

Railways on the telly

There were a couple of decent programmes on the telly last night both on BBC 4.

One was Julia Bradbury in Railway Walks. This was the second of four and was set in Snowdonia. Nothing flashy just nice views a few interesting snippets and a nice way to spend half an hour. The previous one the peak express is still watchable via the I-Player (if you live in the UK.

Crime writer Andrew Martin's programme dealt with the impact the railways have had on popular culture in the UK. It looked at the rise of books specifically targetted to the railway market in Victorian times when WH Smiths opened its first store in a railway terminus, and had how railway had impacted film, The Thirty Nine steps (the railway scenes are much less significant iin Buchan's bbo), The Titchfied thunderbolt etc. An interesting and enjoyable programme.

Railway travel in films and books pre-war looks sssoo romantic nothing like getting on the train today.

On a side note.

Geoff Hoon, the git, has overuled Uttlesford council and allowed for expanding Stansted Airport

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I missed Railway Walks but saw the other programme, what a lovely nostalgic journey for me. I adored the age of steam and felt a great loss when Diesels came in. I still manage to travel on steam trains though, thanks to the thousands of volunteers who keep lines running.

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