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Private Notes
University Challenge icons and real-life best friends Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull are on a road trip with a difference. Feeding their insatiable appetite for knowledge, they visit Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales in search of hidden gems of British scientific and technological ingenuity.
Their genius guide through England showcases an assortment of remarkable inventions. It begins with a trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach to experience Sir Hiram Maxim's 1904 Captive Flying Machines, the oldest amusement ride in Europe. These miniature rocket-shaped aeroplanes were designed by the eccentric inventor who created the first portable machine gun but whose ultimate goal was to achieve powered flight. A vertiginous spin on this historic ride gives Monkman the perfect opportunity to describe in detail the theory of centrifugal force.
Next, Southport, a quintessentially British seaside haven. It is also home to the only lawnmower museum of its kind in the world. Here Monkman and Seagull celebrate an invention that has changed the landscape of Britain forever. As Seagull puts it, 'If an Englishman's home is his castle, then our grass is the field of our ambitions and hopes'. Monkman and Seagull are intrigued to discover the reason why the man who invented the lawnmower had to test his prototypes at night. They are also fascinated to discover that the museum is home to a lawnmower once owned by one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time.
Their next stop takes Monkman and Seagull off the beaten track to Emley Tower in Huddersfield, a colossal broadcasting mast that is one of the tallest freestanding structures in the UK, where they put their mathematical prowess to the test and measure its height using only a piece of string and a protractor. After a quick and very cosy pit-stop at the smallest museum in the world in West Yorkshire, they approach the culmination of this week's adventure - the giant telescopes of the mysterious Jodrell Bank Observator
University Challenge icons and real-life best friends Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull are on a road trip with a difference. Feeding their insatiable appetite for knowledge, they visit Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales in search of hidden gems of British scientific and technological ingenuity. Along the way, everything they touch turns to knowledge.
This second episode, their 'genius guide' to Wales, has a strong industrial engineering flavour. Monkman and Seagull begin by sailing across the highest navigable aqueduct in the world - Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1805, this pioneering piece of engineering was built to carry raw materials over a vast ravine into England during the industrial revolution. The tiny village of Hawarden gives the brainy duo the opportunity to stay overnight in the UK's only residential library, surrounded by former Prime Minister William Gladstone's unique collection of books.
Approaching Mount Snowdon, they visit a former quarry hospital in Llanberis, now a museum highlighting its previous life caring for injured slate quarry workers. Here they use their vast knowledge to work out what some of the old medical apparatus was used for. Eric and Bobby also seek some last minute mountaineering inspiration from Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, by visiting the hotel they stayed at while training on Snowdon for their pioneering ascent of Everest. Finally, the two friends make an attempt on the summit of Mount Snowdon itself - via the mountain's iconic rack-and-pinion narrow gauge steam railway train, which has been ferrying tourists to the top of the peak since 1896.
University Challenge icons and real-life best friends Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull are on a road trip with a difference. Feeding their insatiable appetite for knowledge, they visit Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales in search of hidden gems of British scientific and technological ingenuity.
Their 'genius guide' to Northern Ireland celebrates some of the most significant and iconic transportation breakthroughs of the last century. It begins with an encounter with a piece of aviation history that has saved thousands of lives - the ejector seat, designed in Northern Ireland - and ends in Belfast on the deck of 'Titanic's Little Sister', with a host of inquisitive encounters along the way.
Heading west, there is a must-see for anyone with an interest in the cosmos. The Armagh Observatory has been monitoring the night sky and measuring the weather for over two centuries. Here, Monkman and Seagull come eye to eye with one of the most important telescopes ever made - the 1885 Grubb ten-inch Refractor, which played a pivotal role in the discovery and cataloguing of thousands of interstellar galaxies.
Passing through the small town of Enniskillen gives Monkman and Seagull the chance to visit a unique railway museum located inside a barber shop. As their journey through Northern Ireland nears its climax, Eric and Bobby arrive at the historic Belfast docks, where they step on board the ship known 'Titanic's Little sister'. Built in 1911, The SS Nomadic ferried 274 passengers to the Titanic as it embarked upon its doomed journey and - somewhat eerily - is now the only remaining White Star Line ship in the world, outliving its tragic big sister. Finally, Monkman and Seagull meet one of the most iconic cars ever to be built in Northern Ireland - the DeLorean - famous for its appearances in the Back to the Future movies. The conversation soon turns to flux capacitors and the existential possibilities of time travel, which Monkman refuses to rule out the possi
Monkman and Seagull's genius road trip concludes with a whistle-stop tour of some of Scotland's most enigmatic scientific achievements. Their journey begins in Edinburgh at the birthplace of a little-known scientist who changed the face of history, and ends at gigantic power station buried deep within a Highland mountain. First stop for Monkman and Seagull is the Edinburgh birthplace of one of their childhood heroes. James Clerk Maxwell has been dubbed 'Scotland's Unknown Einstein', and his pioneering work includes the 1865 theory of electromagnetism.
Before heading west to Glasgow, Monkman and Seagull analyse a deep fried Mars Bar, and discuss the science behind this notorious Scottish snack. In Glasgow, Monkman and Seagull explore the Hunterian Museum's collection of antiquarian experimental instruments and delve into the personal correspondence of iconic scientist Lord Kelvin. A drive along the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond prompts them to stop and explore the science of skimming stones before their day ends at the picturesque town of Inveraray, home of an authentically-preserved 19th-century jail.
Last stop on Monkman and Seagull's genius road trip through Scotland is the beguiling Ben Cruachan. This vast Scottish peak holds a dark secret - entering the mountain reveals its hollow interior, home to a gigantic hydroelectric power station.
