Action Packed Travel

When you visit, you need to be prepared for pelotons of bicycles, mostly not of the sporty type that you see in the Tour de France, but the ancient sit-up- and-beg variety with a basket for books on the front, and in the saddle an undergraduate in a hurry, or a don in a flowing black cloak. You'll meet them – and hopefully miss them – around every corner. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy

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What did Jane Austen and the Roman emperor, Claudius, have in common? The answer is: a love of bathwater. Here's a repeat of one of our popular episodes. Music: ©Barney & Izzi Hardy

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We revisit one of our popular episodes, which is all about the world's number one neolithic site. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy

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Have you ever thought about what lies beneath your feet, under the pavement, under the road? This week, we're going underground to explore a network of mysterious tunnels hidden beneath the ancient Somerset town of Frome. It is 20 minutes south of Bath, and it has a long history dating back to Anglo Saxon times. Music: © Barney & Izzi Hardy

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Contemporary classical cellist, Eva Boecker, is one of 19 soloists from 9 countries who plays with Ensemble Modern. Every year the group performs about 100 concerts in Europe and worldwide.

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This week we're at Bletchley Park, the country mansion 35 minutes by train northwest of London, where Alan Turing and his team of cryptanalysts cracked the complicated codes of the German Enigma machine. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy

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Inspector Morse is the most famous TV show that was filmed in Oxford, and Colin Dexter, who used to sit in the hotel's Morse Bar penning his latest novel, would often write the Randolph into his stories. Freddie Mercury did a concert here, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde and J.R.R. Tolkien visited. Music © Barney & Izzi Hardy

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This week, we're on the road exploring the one sector of the travel industry that has absolutely thrived throughout the pandemic and now continues to explode in popularity across Europe. Music © Barney and Izzi Hardy

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Thermae Bath Spa in the Roman city of Bath is in a building that looks not only to the past, but also to the future. Music © Barney and Izzi Hardy

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Cheryl B Engelhardt is a singer-songwriter who composed and recorded her latest album, Passenger, on a train journey from New York City to Los Angeles. Music © Cheryl B Engelhardt, and also by Barney & Izzi Hardy

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