Yorkshire by Bike

As seen on our sidebar (TV alerts), today on BBC4:

Britain by Bike : West Yorkshire

Clare Balding sets out on a two-wheel odyssey to re-discover Britain from the saddle of a touring cycle.
In a six-part series, Clare follows the wheeltracks of compulsive cyclist and author Harold Briercliffe whose evocative guide books of the late 1940s lovingly describe by-passed Britain - a world of unspoiled villages, cycle touring clubs and sunny B roads. Carrying a set of Harold's Cycling Touring Guides for company and riding his very own Dawes Super Galaxy bicycle, she goes in search of the world he described with such affection.
As she cycles through Brontë Country on the Yorkshire/Lancashire border, Clare uncovers a unique photographic collection depicting the hidden daily life of a Yorkshire mill town, a string of truly remarkable women and a secret club for henpecked husbands.

Credits

Presenter Clare Balding
Director Alison Pinkney
Executive Producer Steve Bailey

Broadcasts

1. Tue 10 Aug 2010 20:30
2. Wed 11 Aug 2010 01:50
3. Fri 13 Aug 2010 00:00
4. Mon 16 Aug 2010 03:00

The Yorkshire Post gives more (Brontë) details:

Rochdale-born Briercliffe's detailed accounts of the more obscure byways of Britain have long been out of print, but Balding uses the writer's own Dawes Super Galaxy cycle to follow some of his favourite rides – including a 30-mile round trip from and to Hebden Bridge in the rugged Pennines of West Yorkshire, taking in Haworth, Wycoller, Blake Dean and Hardcastle Crags en route. (...) Cycling on under gathering clouds, she crosses the Lancashire border temporarily, to explore the old village of Wycoller and the ruins there that feature in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, when Mr Rochester retreats in his blindness to "Ferndean Manor" which in reality was Wycoller Hall. (Sheena Hastings)

EDIT: Britain by Bike is one of today's What's on TV picks of the day.

Categories: Movies-DVD-TV