Great British Journeys - William Gilpin's Observations on the River Wye (1783)

William Gilpin's book Observations on the River Wye was a milestone in the development of tourism. Gilpin became the high priest of 'the Picturesque', a new theory of landscape, celebrating the wild and ruined, and it transformed our way of looking at nature. Nicholas Crane investigates one of the truly great river journeys of the British Isles.