Excess Baggage - 28/11/2009

Sandi Toksvig talks to Christopher Somerville about the business of bringing the countryside alive through recounting his journeys through Britain. They discuss some of the walks and rides through iconic landscapes that encapsulate some essential aspect of this country, from Shetland to Canvey Island. King Harold's army's 12-day march south in October 1066 after the victory against the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge to meet William the soon-to-be-Conqueror at Hastings was perhaps the most significant walk in English history. Huon Mallalieu and Chas Jones have both recreated aspects of this journey and Sandi finds out what it was like to make such a march and how much it influenced events.