Episodes

From London to Miami – US Rail Journeys Series 3 Episode 1 From London to Miami charts my journey from the Premier Inn near Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport to the DoubleTree Grand, Biscayne Bay in Miami. View the photographs that accompany this podcast: Please click on a thumbnail to open the gallery: To Terminal 5: Because of a rail strike on the 23rd June I decide to stay overnight at the Premier Inn Terminal 5 so that I won’t get caught in traffic on my way to Heathrow. After a peaceful n...

Season 2022 – Talk 09 – Inclosure Inclosure – or in today’s spelling Enclosure – is a talk where Gillian Devine tells us about the effects of Inclosure on society. She takes the example of the Inclosure of parts of the Manor of Farnham. What does ‘Inclosure’ mean? Inclosure is the process where land that had previously been open to anyone became private property. It includes fencing the land, using walls and hedges to create private estates. The ‘peasants’ farmed strips of land for centuries...

Season 2022 – Talk 08 – Farnham in the Civil War In Farnham in the Civil War Pam Taylor tells why Farnham was of significant importance during the first English Civil War. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. At the crossing of two major roads: The first of the roads is the North / South route running from Southampton to London via Bagshot and crossing the river at Staines. The other is the East / West North Downs Trackway running from the Kent coast ...

The Isle of Wight with the LTM Friends In the Isle of Wight with the LTM Friends I take a trip organised by the London Transport Museum Friends to the Isle of Wight. The trip is in late February 2022 on a beautiful, sunny, day. Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs for this podcast: Waterloo to Portsmouth and Southsea: I have an early start to get to Waterloo where I collect my ticket for the train. We travel down the South West mainline to our first stop at Woking. After leaving W...

Season 2022 – Talk 07 – The Real American Indians In The Real American Indians Alan Bridgman tells us how the Native Americans were persecuted and driven from their lands because of the greed of the white settlers in the 19th century. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. Black Kettle of the Cheyenne: A prominent leader of the southern Cheyenne during the American Indian Wars. He’s a pragmatist, believing that U.S. military power and the number of immig...

Season 2022 – Talk 04 – Six Inventors In Six Inventors, six members of the Farnham u3a World History Group tell us the stories of six amazing people. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. Jethro Tull: Lorna Thomas tells us the fascinating story of Jethro Tull, an English agriculturist. He is born in 1674 in Berkshire. Jethro trains as a lawyer although he never practices. He is famed for his work during the 18th century British Agricultural Revolution ...

Season 2022 – Talk 03 – No one expects… In the talk No one expects… the story of three Bishops, Peter Duffy tells us about how the English Protestant Reformation affected the lives of three Bishops. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. Henry VIII: Henry grows tired of Catherine of Aragon who, after nearly 24 years of marriage, has only borne a daughter, Mary. He wants his marriage to be annulled. The Pope refuses to annul the marriage. This leads stre...

Season 2022 – Talk 02 – Samuel Pepys In the talk Samuel Pepys Judith Edge tells about one of her heroes, a man who lived through many perils in his 70 years. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. Perilous times: Judith tells us about the perils that stood waiting for people in the 17th Century. In the case of Samuel Pepys there are more perils than for an ordinary person. Childhood: Childbirth is very dangerous in the 1630s as many mothers die giving ...

Our return to Paddington – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 18 In Our return to Paddington our two steam locomotives power us out of Wales and up the Great Western mainline to Paddington. Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs for this podcast: Watering at Craven Arms: We stop for water at Craven Arms. It takes quite a long time to water both our locomotives! At least we expected to stop at Craven Arms today – unlike on Sunday. Hereford: We reach Hereford and our passengers have ...

Season 2022 – Talk 01 – Tea – The Cup that Cheers In the talk Tea – The Cup that Cheers Richard Thomas takes us through the political economy of tea over the last few hundred years. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. Types of tea: We hear that tea first came from China. Apparently there is a record of the date when it was first identified. As Richard says, this is so accurate as to be unbelievable. Indian tea becomes popular in the 19th Century. Cey...

From Crewe to Shrewsbury – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 17 In From Crewe to Shrewsbury our our two steam locomotives power us out of Crewe station and on to the Welsh Marches line. Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs for this podcast: Crewe station: The station, then on the Grand Junction Railway, has been open since 4th July 1837. It has a great historical significance and serves as a gateway to the North West because it is 158 miles from London. There is the main line to ...

Season 2021 – Talk 20 – King Arthur – Fact or Myth? In the talk King Arthur – Fact or Myth? David Simpson analyses the case for King Arthur, his legend and also the evidence against him. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. Battles against the Saxon invaders: King Arthur was a legendary Celtic Briton who, according to legend, led the Celtic Britons in battles against the Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. The departure of the Roma...

Onwards to Crewe – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 16 In Onwards to Crewe our journey continues along the North Wales Mainline to Chester and then south to Crewe where two steam locomotives are waiting for us to arrive. Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs for this podcast: More closed stations Our journey takes us through the sites of Queensferry, Sandycroft and Saltney Ferry stations, all closed because of the good Dr. Beeching’s work! The Class 47 is pulling us at a good spee...

Season 2021 – Talk 18 – Countess Markievicz and Lady Astor In the talk Countess Markievicz and Lady Astor Jo Watson tells us about these two women. They came from wealthy backgrounds, married into the nobility, became Members of Parliament but in other respects were very different. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. Constance Markievicz: Constance Gore-Booth was born in Buckingham Gate in London in 1868. Her father is an Anglo-Irish landowner who, du...

Homeward Bound (1) – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 15 It’s day 5 of The Welsh Dragon and we’re Homeward Bound, however before we set off on our coach to the station I talk to Kate and Shaun who are two very seasoned Steam Dreams travellers. Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs for this podcast: Thoughts on Sunday’s Mystery Tour I talk with our ‘seasoned travellers’ about Sunday’s mystery tour. We took the tour because of damage to a bridge on our original route. Our journey fr...

Season 2021 – Talk 17 – The Changing lives of women In The Changing lives of women Margaret Denyer tells us how the role of women has evolved in British society over the last few centuries. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. Status: For many centuries the role of women depended on their status. Those who were part of wealthy families led a life of comfort but were usually denied a role outside their family. Those without wealth worked – on the land, ...

Snowdonia (2) – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 14 It’s day 4 of The Welsh Dragon and we’re in Snowdonia. But before we set off I talk to Kate and Shaun, two of the seasoned Steam Dreams travellers. Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs for this podcast: Yesterday’s trip with Kate and Shaun Our seasoned travellers joined the boat trip to Puffin Island yesterday. We hear how much they enjoyed it and how much they learnt from the skipper’s commentary. Our stop at Clogwyn: Peris, ...

Season 2021 – Talk 16 – The Highland Clearances In The Highland Clearances Sue Willson uses literature as the basis for her talk. The sources range from the visit to the Western Isles by Dr Johnson and James Boswell in 1775 to modern literature. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. Why literature? Modern novelists have to carry out a great deal of research before they write a book and so, although the people may be fictional, key events will be fact. ...

Up Snowdon by rail – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 13 On day 4 of The Welsh Dragon tour we board our coaches and head to Llanberis because we’re going Up Snowdon by rail. But before that I talk to two seasoned travellers. Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs that accompany this podcast: A chat with some seasoned travellers Kate and Shaun have been travelling with Steam Dreams for the last 10 years. They have travelled to all corners of the UK, taking both day trips and holiday...

By boat to Puffin Island – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 12 Day 3 of The Welsh Dragon and we board the Island Princess for our voyage by boat to Puffin Island. The sun is shining, the sea is calm and the boat is at the end of the pier. Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs that accompany this podcast: We join the Island Princess Beaumaris has many pubs, restaurants and cafes, so we’ve had our lunches in a number of different places. I found a really good ice cream parlour just ...

Season 2021 – Talk 15 – Food for Thought In Food for Thought Andrew Cole tells us about diet through the ages and dispels many myths. There is no image gallery available with this talk. Medieval times: Many believe that the peasant population has a poor diet at this time. Andrew agrees that the diet may have been boring but argues that people had enough to eat. At this time many poor people keep pigs which can live in a forest and can look after themselves. Agricultural peasants tend to kee...

Beaumaris Castle – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 11 Day 3 of The Welsh Dragon and we board our coaches after a leisurely breakfast, I’m heading to Beaumaris Castle because I’m swapping the train for a coach, a castle and a boat today. Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs that accompany this podcast: So how do you pronounce Beaumaris? If you ask an English person (and probably many others) they’ll say ‘Bowmaris’ however if you listen to the locals they’ll say ‘Bewmaris’ – as in...

Season 2021 – Talk 14 – John Ruskin In his talk about John Ruskin Alan Freeland tells us the story of the life of this English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath who lived in the Victorian era. Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk. Early life: Ruskin’s parents are first cousins and he is an only child. His father imports sherry and wine and is a founding partner and business manager of Ruskin, Telford and Domecq. Ruskin’s mother is the daughte...

Through the West Midlands to Crewe – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 10 The second day of The Welsh Dragon continues as we continue our journey through the West Midlands to Crewe. We are not following the planned route along the Welsh coast because someone crashed into a bridge. Instead we are taking a long route from Shrewsbury to Crewe. Our four and a half hour journey allows every passenger to eat a full Sunday Lunch before we arrive and join the coaches taking us to our hotels. Click o...