Starting this week, another garnish to this already packed sandwich that is my typical Saturday afternoon is brought to Geography with Dan, as I select a current piece of news and demonstrate just how far the world has come by using a historic National Geographic magazine from my vast collection. This year marks 125 years of the magazine, and I hope through my Saturday Supplement, you will join me in celebrating such a wonderful resource for knowledge and history.
On Monday, the UK government's transport secretary will unveil the route for the new High Speed 2 train which is planned to run from London, to Manchester and Leeds. There is no doubt that the train has come a long way down the track since it was first introduced here in Britain, in the early 1800s. The 'Big Four' routes were created to stretch across the island, and ran through what were, and still are, the most prolific cities. In 1948, the nationalisation of British Railways occurred and I take, from the January 1961 National Geographic an advert for the company.
"60-80 miles an hour"? Really? It's incredible to think that in just over half a century, the whole concept of a train journey has revolutionised. Yes, it may still be "British Tradition" (in fact, now more than ever as train ticket sales have shot off the tracks into the air) but the whole ethos of allowing yourself to be gracefully shuttled through "ancient abbeys" and "historic castles" has been lost. Soon, as High Speed 2 becomes available, seeing the UK's "glorious past" will be almost impossible; the trains travel at 225mph, and the only exterior vista a passenger is likely to be exposed to, is an untidy smear of green and blue.
"The milestones of Britain's Railways are the milestones of history" as it so rightly states in the advert. But I feel, as a frequent commuter, that whilst travelling by High Speed 2 will take the country from Platform Present to Future Station, it will come with a sad cost to the country's past.
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