Britain's Lost Waterlands: Escape to Swallows and Amazons Country

About this Broadcast

Presenters Dick Strawbridge and Professor Alice Roberts explore the British landscapes that inspired children's author Arthur Ransome to write his famous series Swallows and Amazons. Strawbridge uses vintage boats to investigate three iconic waterlands - the Lake District, the Norfolk broads, and the Suffolk coastline - while Roberts takes a look at the shore lines

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Documentary News/Current Affairs

Cast & Crew

Dick Strawbridge (Presenter)

Alice Roberts (Presenter)

Andrea Cornes (Executive producer)

Fiona Ryder (Executive producer)

Phil Coles (Producer)

Amanda Young (Editor)

More Information

Did You Know..

Dick Strawbridge (Presenter)

Born: September 03, 1959 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland

Best Known For: Presenting and participating in Scrapheap Challenge.

Early-life: Richard Francis Strawbridge was born on September 3, 1959 in Burma and raised in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He attended Ballyclare High School from 1971 to 1976 and later Welbeck DSFC. Dick joined the British Army in 1979 and reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before leaving in 2001.

Career: Strawbridge got his start on TV as a team captain on the first series of Scrapheap Challenge. He competed again on the TV show in 2000 and took over as the main presenter in 2009. Prior to presenting Scrapheap Challenge, Strawbridge worked alongside his family on BBC Two's It's Not Easy Being Green from 2006 to 2007. He has also appeared on Coast, initially as a guest presenter in 2006 and again on a number of occasions up until 2015. Strawbridge also competed on Celebrity Masterchef in 2010 and made it to the final. Other TV programmes he has worked on include The Hungry Sailors, Saturday Farm, Escape to the Chateau, Dirty Rotten Survival and Cabins in the Wild.

Quote: "My television career has been built on a mindset that ‘yes we can do that' rather than ‘umming' and ‘ahhing', which is a direct result of all my experiences in the military and a willingness to always have a go."

Trivia: He was awarded a military MBE in 1993 for his service in Northern Ireland.