Full Steam Ahead

About this Broadcast

Historians Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn relive the golden age of steam. They begin by exploring how the introduction of steam railways in the early 19th century created a domestic revolution, from the way people lived to the food they ate. Arriving at Ffestiniog Railway in Snowdonia, they find out how millions of tons of slate were moved down the mountain, while underground, Alex experiences the brutal conditions face by miners in the Llechwedd Quarry

Documentary Education/Science/Factual Topics History News/Current Affairs

Cast & Crew

Ruth Goodman (Presenter)

Alex Langlands (Presenter)

Peter Ginn (Presenter)

Stuart Elliott (Producer)

Nick Catliff (Executive producer)

Emma Randle-Caprez (Producer)

Georgina Stewart (Producer)

More Information

Did You Know..

Ruth Goodman (Presenter)

Best Known For: Victorian Farm.

Early-life: Ruth was born in 1963. She made her TV debut in Tales from the Green Valley, which saw her spending a year reconstructing and maintaining a 17th-century farm with archaeologists Peter Ginn and Alex Langlands.

Career: In 2009, Goodman was part of a team that recreated everyday life on a small farm in Shropshire in the mid-19th century in popular BBC series Victorian Farm. Her other TV projects on similar lines include Edwardian Farm, Tudor Monastery Farm and Wartime Farm. She has also presented Coast and 24 Hours in the Past. Away from her TV work, Goodman works with a range of institutions and museums such as The Weald and Downland, The Globe Theatre, and the National Trust.

Quote: 'We matter. How our ancestors - ordinary men, women and children - solved the nitty gritty problems of everyday life made the world what it is today.'

Trivia: In 2012, Goodman was awarded an Honorary Degree from Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln.