The Great British Story: Regional Histories

Episode 8: The Taming of Cambridgeshire

June 12, 2012 • 30 min

Rory McGrath enjoys an historical journey into Cambridge and reveals how the county was tamed from a boggy, mosquito-infested landscape into one of Britain's most wealthy and clever counties. Using a variety of boats, stilts and a bicycle, Rory travels through Cambridgeshire and meets the people who can show how our ancestors survived and created the beautiful city of Cambridge. 500 years ago, malaria was rife, and the Cam was a filthy shadow of the idyllic river that attracts thousands of tourists today, but a combination of chance and determination led to a series of discoveries that changed the health of the country.