BBC - War Walks Series 2 (1997) Part 1 Hastings

A series of six journeys through six centuries of warfare in the company of military historian Professor Richard Holmes. Battlefields were Holmes's natural habitat, and defined him as a television presenter, often up to his knees in mud for the BBC series War Walks in the 1990s, in which he toured the trenches of the First World War. Dates such as 1066 and names such as Dunkirk often strike a chord of nostalgia, but the details of the historic events associated with them are forgotten. In the War Walks 1-2 Richard Holmes takes us on fascinating journey through time to visit twelve battlefields throughout Britain, Northern France and Belgium that mark crucial moments in Britain's bloody and turbulent history. From Hastings to Dunkirk, Agincourt to The Somme, Richard vividly recreates the atmosphere of these key battles in our history. With his expert knowledge of weapons and warfare, Richard Holmes provides a brilliantly clear picture of the events which led up to each battle, the conflicts themselves, and the people who fought them. Using practical 'views of the field', he travels the battlefields as they exist today, pointing out their places of interest, paying tribute to the men who fought there, and bringing history to life. In War Walks 2 Richard Holmes takes us on a fascinating journey through time to visit six battlefields that mark crucial moments in Britain's bloody and turbulent history. This series focuses on a selection of battles, six fought in Britain - or, in one case, on a struggle that straddled the Channel.

Part 1 Hastings

1066 was the year that invasion changed the course of English history. A duke became a conqueror. He landed, beat King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and brought about the end of Anglo-Saxon England. Hastings was more than an epic struggle between two towering personalities. It was that rare event, an utterly decisive battle. One side defeated the other — and killed its leader into the bargain — in a clash which decided the war. The long-term political, social and economic changes that flowed from it were nothing short of revolutionary. Professor Richard Holmes walks and rides over the Hastings battlefield that marks a turning point in British history, handling the weapons and equipment of the period and becoming a Norman knight to reveal just how close William the Conqueror came to defeat.

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