http://www.micbinks.co.ukEssential UK tourism and leisure news, travel information and current tourist related media programming.en-gbmicbinks 2008website@micbinks.co.uk (mike)website@micbinks.co.uk (mike)Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:02:29 GMTUK TouristLeisure AttractionsHoliday ImagesMicbinks site logohttp://www.micbinks.co.uk/images/micbinkslogo.gifhttp://www.micbinks.co.ukFeedSpring - http://feedspring.com/Sat, 04 May 2013 17:25:32 GMThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rsshttp://www.tvguide.co.ukA new series starting in May is 'Carolyn Quentin's National Parks' on ITV1 Tues; looks promising provided you can stand the over-gushing presentation. Now this looks good: 'Brushing Up On - British Towers' on BBC4 Mons, and also on this channel welcome repeats of 'Great British Railway Journeys' on (some) weekdays continues. Continuing on weekdays on ITV1 'Rory Bremner's Great British Views' has some great content, but oh! what a pity it's so dumbed-down and spoilt with often inane commentary overdubs. 'Coast' pops up on BBC2 on Sats, Suns and Weds and as always 'Countryfile' continues on BBC1 Suns. Well, that's about it for May, click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#82Sat, 04 May 2013 17:25:28 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukThere's a fair few highlights during April for TV programmes in the tourism genre. First up is the new series of 'Coast' on BBC2 on Weds (also keep an eye out for repeats of previous series' too). Another interesting one is 'Walking Through History' on C4, Sats, with Tony Robinson exploring Dorset's coastline for signs of WWII invasion protection. And on BBC4 Suns is the clumsily titled 'From the Sea to the Land Beyond: Britain's Coast on Film'. Elsewhere, the latest series of 'Ade in Britain' continues on ITV1 weekdays and a worthwhile repeat showing of 'Britain's First Photo Album' is on BBC2, also weekdays. Now, those hungry bikers are riding again in 'Hairy Bikers' Best of British' (BBC2, Tues), but we ask... why are so many travel programmes now intrinsically linked with a food theme, it's not as if the UK has a wide culinary diversity? 'Countryfile' continues on BBC1 Suns; and finally, check-out repeats of these: 'Great British Railway Journeys' (BBC4) and 'Robbie Coltrane: B-Road Britain' (ITV3). So, looks like an excellent month for tourism on TV in April. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#81Sat, 06 Apr 2013 15:01:02 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukThere's a few interesting things happening on the tourism themed TV programmes front during March. A new series of 'Ade in Britain' is showing on ITV1 weekdays; much in line with previous series' with the food theme ... but hey, haven't some of those places visited been done before? Also weekdays, 'Britain's Heritage Heroes' and 'The Great British Winter' on BBC2 are likely to provide a glimpse of Britain, as do the 'Great British Railway Journeys' repeats on BBC4 Mons – Weds. Limping on is 'Cornwall with Caroline Quentin' on ITV1 Mons (this could've been so much better), and as always 'Countryfile' is on BBC1 Suns and 'Coast' repeats BBC2 Sats. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#80Sat, 02 Mar 2013 16:09:54 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukIn February the excellent new series of 'Great British Railway Journeys' continues on BBC2 weekdays, and you can also catch an earlier series on BBC4 weekdays. Also worth catching are repeats of the enjoyable 'Railway Walks' on BBC2, again on weekdays. Continuing on Mondays is 'Cornwall with Caroline Quentin'; unfortunately this one just doesn't gel with us with its forced over-the-top presentation and the content seems one long advert for the 'attractions' visited. Other TV programming showing that often includes a tourism aspect includes 'Wild Britain with Ray Mears' on ITV1 Fris, 'Countryfile' BBC1 Suns, and 'Highland Emergency' (Ch5 Tues) can sometimes throw up some wonderful views of the Highland landscape. Finally, it's worth keeping an eye on Discovery History, Blighty, and Yesterday for various travelogue repeats. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#79Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:45:46 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukEh up, tourism programming is looking good to kick the new year off. First up is another worthy series of 'Great British Railway Journeys' on weekdays, BBC2, while on ITV1 on Mons there's another series of 'Cornwall with Caroline Quentin'. We weren't too enamoured with this one before due to the way-too-gushing presentation style, so let's hope Caroline has now been tamed! Being repeated is 'Rivers with Griff Rhys Jones' (BBC2, weekdays); now he's someone else we have trouble with, but the content's solid enough. Moving on to Thurs on ITV1 is 'Wild Britain with Ray Mears' (hmmm... why so many programme titles with the presenter's name, surely it's the content that's top-draw?). Keep an eye on BBC4 – as we write we see those Railway Journeys repeating some weekdays; 'Britain on Film' showing again on Suns; and 'The Golden Age of the Tram' on Thurs (the last two more historic of course). As always, there's 'Countryfile' BBC1 Suns and 'Coast' repeats BBC2 and elsewhere. By heck, that lot should get 2013 of to a good UK tourism start! Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#78Sat, 05 Jan 2013 14:58:23 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukAfter last month's meagre offerings, December looks a better bet. Let's start with 'The Golden Age of Steam Railways' on BBC4 Mon 10th pt 1 (and Wed) with presumably pt 2 the following week. What could be better; heritage, industry, travel, nostalgia and the British countryside all in one (well, Mike thinks so!). Staying with BBC4 there's repeats of 'Great British Railway Journeys' (Mon, Tues, Wed) and 'The Golden Age of Coach Travel' (Tues). Elsewhere, on ITV1 Sats 'Holiday Home Sweet Home' looks promising while weekdays 'Britain's Best Bakery' could well throw up (not literally!) stuff of a tourist interest as it travels across the country. And there's more – 'Miniature Britain' on BBC1 Weds could also be of interest, although it looks more naturalist themed. Now some old faithfuls: 'Countryfile' BBC1 Suns, 'Coast' BBC2 Fris and even 'Highland Emergency' Ch5 Tues. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#77Sat, 08 Dec 2012 15:51:27 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukIt looks like November is going to be a lacklustre month for UK tourism programmes on TV. Repeating (again!) are the dire 'The Dales' and 'Cornwall with Caroline Quentin' on ITV1 weekdays (or least for the first week). The far more worthwhile 'The Golden Age of Canals' repeats on BBC4 on Suns and 'Britain's Best Drives' on Weds. Old faithful 'Countryfile' is still running on BBC1 on Suns, and often good for the highland scenery is 'Highland Emergency' on Ch5, Tues. So no new series', maybe things will pick up later this month. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#76Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:20:09 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukNow October is looking promising for UK tourism themed programming. Already started is 'Tales from the National Parks' on BBC4, Mons which should showcase these popular recreational areas, while on BBC2 weekdays sees 'The Story of Wales', although this may prove more historic focused. BBC4 is also showing 'Julia Bradbury's Canal Walks' on Suns and 'Great British Railway Journeys' (various weekdays); both worth catching if you managed to miss them previously. On Sundays 'Countryfile' is on BBC1 while ITV1 is repeating 'Cornwall with Caroline Quentin' (although we weren't too struck with this one). Remember our tip to keep an eye on Yesterday, Blighty and Discovery History for reruns of previous popular tourist related programmes. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#75Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:23:45 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukNow a certain new culinary series is visiting many areas across the UK – 'My Tasty Travels with Lynda Bellingham' on ITV1 weekdays – but (yawn), we can recall at least three very recent, very similar series' (some even visited the exact same places), so are the TV creative people running out of fresh ideas? Come on guys, even we can think up some exciting new themes! Elsewhere, repeats of 'Great British Railway Journeys' bounce around the schedules on BBC4 as does 'Coast' on BBC2, and 'Countryfile' is showing on Suns on BBC1. As always it's worth checking Yesterday, Blighty and Discovery History for tourism related repeats of major past series', as is an internet video search. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#74Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:28:35 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukWith wall to wall Olympics dominating one certain TV channel during August, let's see what's showing of a UK tourism nature on the others. Some of these may just be slot fillers so can come and go, but on BBC2 on Sats there's repeats of the excellent 'Great British Railway Journeys' and on Suns 'A History of Ancient Britain'. Also on Suns on the more obscure Community we see 'A Very British Games'; this checks-out quirky customs around the country. Moving to weekdays, on Mons ITV1 'Countrywise' is showing, while on BBC2 we notice 'Coast' which also pops up on Weds, as does (groan) the torturous 'The Lakes' (ITV1). If you're quick you can catch 'Cairngorms – A Year in the Wild' on ITV1, Fri and 'Secrets of Stonehenge' on Yesterday, oh, almost forgot 'From Blackpool to Benidorm' on the same channel on Tues. So despite all the sporting stuff travel stuff still gets an outing this month! Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#73Sat, 04 Aug 2012 16:02:03 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukWith the summer sporting season well underway there's very little in the way of UK tourism related programming to report for July. There's 'Countryfile' (BBC1, Suns) of course; there's repeats of 'Great British Railway Journeys', 'The Great British Countryside' and 'Coast' on BBC1 in the small hours of Mons and Tues; and 'The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain' on BBC2 weekdays. And that seems to be your lot, apart from keeping an eye open for re-runs of past popular travel series' on Yesterday, Blighty and Discovery History, oh, and BBC4 too as stuff often pops up there. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#72Sat, 07 Jul 2012 15:43:44 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukLast month we somehow thought 'Countryfile' was coming to an end, but no, it continues just the same on BBC1 Suns! And not only is the second series of 'Great British Railway Journeys' currently repeating on BBC4 (Tues or Weds) it's also started repeating on BBC2 weekday evenings during June, very worthwhile if you missed it originally. The new series of 'Coast' continues on BBC2, Suns as does the fascinating 'Britain's Lost Routes with Griff Rhys Jones' on BBC1 on Thurs (watch out for an early repeat run soon). Blighty, Yesterday and Discovery History are worth checking out for UK Travelogue related re-runs. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#71Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:07:35 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukThere's not a lot to spot in the schedules by way of UK tourism related TV programming for May. A new series of 'Coast' begins on BBC2, Suns in mid-month while worthwhile repeats of 'Canal Walks' (Mons, BBC4) and the second series of 'Great British Railway Journeys' on BBC4 on Tues (8/5) and continues on Weds; as this seems to be a bit of a slot filler expect to see this bounce around the weekday schedules. 'The Dales' limps on... and on... on Mons ITV1 - but ends this month. And there's little else, apart from 'Countryfile' on BBC1 Sun 6/5, this looks like the last of the series, surely not – it's been going for ever it seems! As always, our tip to keep an eye on Blighty, Yesterday and Discovery History as some previous travel gems often repeat on these. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#70Sat, 05 May 2012 13:22:14 GMThttp://www.tvguide.co.ukA new programme in April that has a travel interest is a 4x60m series called 'Our Food'. Showing on BBC2 on Weds, it's billed as a gastronomic tour of the UK so it's likely to be more about food than locations, but maybe worth a shot. Otherwise 'The Dales' (yawn) continues on ITV1, Mons as does 'Countryfile' on BBC1, Suns while worthwhile repeats continue of 'Great British Railway Journeys', usually on Tues, on BBC4. Finally, Yesterday and Discovery History are worth checking out for travelogue repeats. Click this item for further TV listings...http://www.micbinks.co.uk/rss/uk-tourist-blog.php#69Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:04:47 GMT