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Britain's Best Drives

2009 - 2009

North Yorkshire Moors

Episode 1

In a classic Morris Minor Traveller, he drives from Scarborough to Whitby via the Yorkshire moors. He learns about the rise and fall of the British seaside resorts, takes a toll road through the Dalby Forest and checks out the mythical roadside wonder that is the Hole of Horecum. He finds out how the village of Goathland now lives a double life and ends up with a carload of goths on their way to visit Whitby Abbey.

North Wales

Episode 2

Richard takes the wheel of Ford Zodiac to drive the circular route from Caernarfon that loops through some of Snowdonia's most sensational scenery. He gets a Welsh lesson at Caernarfon Castle, learns the significance of the Dinorwic slate quarry, drives the Llanberis Pass, meets 71-year-old human fly Eric Jones and takes a trip down memory lane at a former Butlins holiday camp.

North Cornish Coast

Episode 3

Richard struggles to get to grips with a retro VW camper van as he drives the coast road from St Ives to Lands End. He learns of St Ives's 1950s abstract art heyday and meets a 95-year-old painter still at work in Porthmeor Studios. He discovers why DH Lawrence was expelled from the county, hears legends of Cornish mermaids and gets to know his van on a blustery clifftop campsite.

Lake District

Episode 4

Richard drives a sporty, convertible Triumph TR3A around some of the Lake District's most famous roads. He gets the low down on the area from author and resident Hunter Davies, takes on a notorious road, celebrates his birthday at one of Britain's highest pubs, and learns how climate change is affecting this delicate landscape.

The Wye Valley and Forest of Dean

Episode 5

Using an Austin Cambridge to explore an area that claims to be the birthplace of British tourism, Richard learns about life before the Severn Bridge, finds out why thousands of tourists flocked to the Wye Valley in search of the 'picturesque' and discovers how ancient customs are still practised in the medieval forest of Dean, with his trip culminating at a renowned viewpoint.

The Trossachs

Episode 6

For his final drive, Richard returns to the country of his birth in a splendid 1950s Bentley. He drops in on his sister, returns to the original 'Dr Finlay' house, takes to the water to find out how Sir Walter Scott inspired a deluge of sightseers to the region, drives Scotland's most famous road in the company of a bevy of vintage bikers, and discovers just what it is about great vistas that gives us all such a thrill.

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Britain's Best Drives is a six-part 2009 British television series in which Richard Wilson travels across the UK in reviewing the best driving roads from a motoring guide of the 1950s. In each episode he drives a different car of the period. There was also a seventh episode where Wilson learns how to drive a manual transmission car again.

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