Excess Baggage - 05/06/2010

Classicist Mary Beard tells John McCarthy that the Parthenon in Athens was built two and a half thousand years ago to attract visitors and has been doing so ever since. It has been a temple, a church and a mosque. It has survived being blown up and ill advised restoration attempts and continues to excite one of the the most controversial debates in modern tourism. As we travel to our favourite parts of the British Isles, whether it be the Highlands of Scotland, the Cotswolds or the Devon coast, the real beauty of the landscape is formed by the underlying geology. Paleontologist Richard Fortey and writer Ian Vince tell John how the rocks from which the island is made are at the root of our choice of holiday destination and activity, from lying on sandy beaches to walking in the hills. Producer: Harry Parker.