From London to Lancashire

First transmitted in 1972, writer and journalist Ian Nairn takes the first of three journeys north through the British Isles to look at the land we live in. Following an imaginary straight line between London and Manchester, and ignoring the motorways, Nairn finds it to be a journey of surprises. Nairn bemoans the pulling down of Northampton's Emporium Arcade and decries the bleakness of the M1 motorway experience. But he is heartened by the preservation of Staunton Harold Hall and church, and by a Stockport shopping precinct.