Walking Through History

Tony's walk tells the life story of the remarkable Bronte sisters and explores how the West Yorkshire moors inspired two of the finest novels ever written. The classic moorland became the backdrop for 'Jane Eyre 'and 'Wuthering Heights' as it was the real-life home of the tragic but brilliant Charlotte and Emily Bronte.

Tony walks across the Cairngorms to Balmoral, in the footsteps of Victoria and Albert who discovered and promoted the Scottish Highlands, enthusiastically adopting the kilt, the Highland Games, hunting and fishing. He tells the very personal tale of Victoria and Albert's love of the Scottish mountains. This is also a story of the complete image makeover of an entire nation.

Tony traces the Norman conquest of this corner of Wales which, nearly 1000 years later, still feels more English than the rest of the country. He discovers how the Normans used wars, castles, and seduction to leave a unique legacy.

For five years, the tiny Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans, the only part of the British Isles to be so. Over a four-day walk around Jersey and Guernsey, Tony tells of the story of the Occupation; its physical impact is still very visible, and the experience still vividly remembered.

Nowhere is fact and fiction so entwined than in the stories of King John, Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. Yet out of this legendary time came Magna Carta, a foundation stone of modern democracy. On the 800th anniversary of the signing, Tony unravels the history from the myth.

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. Tony walks in their footsteps and relives their spirit.