Yorkshire Coast History

The history of The Crescent at Filey is bricks and mortar proof that fact is often stranger than fiction. Dr George Sheeran returns to the podcast to talk about the development, architecture and people of Filey's famous Crescent. Topics range from Victorian property speculation to a 'lingering Greek Revival' style of architecture; visiting nobility to the development of caravan parks. It's a broad sweep of holiday making trends at the British seaside, with a particular focus on the Yorkshire town of Filey and one street, The Crescent.

Maharajah’s at Whitby, French royalty at Scarborough and Charlotte Bronte at Bridlington. Dr George Sheeran talks about the, perhaps surprising, history of seaside holidays at the Yorkshire coast. Scarborough is widely recognised as being the first seaside resort in the world. George's talk ranges from Scarborough's beginnings as a spa in the 1600s, through to its, and the wider coasts, heyday in the nineteenth century when royalty, gentry and high-class society frequented Yorkshire's resorts. It is a fascinating tale, that is brought right up to date via the bombardment of Scarborough in the First World War, to Billy Butlin's holiday camp at Filey that perhaps epitomises the changes to holiday making patterns that reach into the 21st century.

Paul Norcross and David Pendleton visit Bradford University's School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences to chat to Dr Chris Gaffney about his investigations into the archaeology of sport and leisure. Chris is a geophysicist, he featured on eighty episodes of Channel 4's Time Team and is now head of department at Bradford. We hear about the pioneering days of archaeology on television, geophysical investigations at locations as diverse as the former football pitch at Bradford Park Avenue and Chris' hunt for the remains of the 1904 Bradford Exhibition in Lister Park.

Interview with Professor Tony Collins of De Montfort and Beijing Universities discussing his new book, 'How Football Began, a global history of how the world's football codes were born'.