±«Óãtv

As you probably know, in a week's time A History of the World in 100 Objects returns to Radio 4. But it turns out that Monday is going to be a bumper day for A History of the World programmes, as in the evening there will also be a special documentary on ±«Óãtv One in each English region.

There are 12 programmes each looking at an invention or idea which came from that region and spread across the world and I've managed to get a sneak peek at a few of them and have a couple of clips for you.

In terms of inventions that changed the world, I wouldn't have thought you could get much more important than James Watt's steam engine. Except it turns out, in another example of my dim and fading memories of GCSE physics failing me, Watt didn't invent the steam engine. It was invented by a Baptist preacher from Dartmouth called .

This not-so-breaking news comes courtesy of Adam Hart-Davis who looks at Newcomen's reciprocating piston steam engine for ±«Óãtv South West with his usual boyish enthusiasm. Had he been my physics teacher I may have stuck with it a bit longer. Look at the glee on his face as he gets to run a replica of the engine.





Meanwhile ±«Óãtv South East have gone for something a little less tangible. Their world-changer is the seaside resort, which they say was invented by Richard Russell in the 18th century. It seems his obsession with sea water led to Brighton becoming a trendy spa resort, then a popular bathing spot and eventually a place for bikinis, sticks of rock and saucy postcards.

Suggs is your tour-guide for this programme and there are plenty of objects tracing the history of the seaside resort but here's a clip of one I was particularly taken by: . A mutant train carriage on giant, spindly legs that ran through the sea and which is, I think, accurately described on the page I've linked to as "somewhat bonkers".




I've got a couple more of the documentaries on my desk and I'll try and give you a taste of those too, particularly as I realise these are both southern regions - that's just how they arrived in the inbox. So I'll head north, when I get a moment, where it seems from the labels that I have canal locks from the midlands to look forward to, mill technology from the north-west and smallpox in the west of England. Hmmm... Where are my mask and gloves?

• Each region will show its documentary at 7:30pm Monday 17 May on ±«Óãtv One but you will be able to watch all or any of them for seven days afterwards on the iPlayer. (I'll post links to them here on Monday.)
• These documentaries were made with the help of Black Country Living Museum, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery and Hove Museum all of which have objects on this website.

** UPDATE - You can now watch all the documentaries on iPlayer until Mon 24 May. **