Tourist places in London

Interviewer What advice would you give to someone visiting London for the first time?

Sebastian It's often said that London is a city of villages, for example, Hampstead, even Chelsea, were all villages in the past; so take some time to get to know the village you are staying in before you start to explore the famous sights.

Interviewer What's the one thing you would say someone visiting London should do or see?

Sebastian Outdoors: walk up Parliament Hill - you get far and away the best view over the city. Indoors: the British Museum. When you see what the people of ancient times were capable of, it makes you feel humble about the achievement of our own age.

Interviewer And what's the best place to have your photo taken?

Sebastian I've always liked the classic view of the Houses of Parliament either from Westminster Bridge or from the other side of the river.

Interviewer What's your favourite landmark?

Sebastian St Paul's Cathedral. It is so hidden-away that when you catch your first sight of it, it's always a thrill. You just turn a corner and suddenly there it is.

Interviewer What's the best place to watch the sunset?

Sebastian Well, the views from the bridges are always spectacular. I imagine the London Eye, by Waterloo Bridge, would be a good spot, but I am ashamed to say I have never been on it. And on a summer evening I like the roof garden of The Trafalgar Hotel just off Trafalgar Square - you can watch the city lights come on as the sun sets.

Interviewer What's the best place to be at dawn?

Sebastian In the summer, almost anywhere. I love the city when it's completely deserted in the early morning light. One of my favourite places to be at that time is the all-night bagel shop on Brick Lane. I love queuing on the pavement outside for a salmon and cream cheese bagel in the early morning, because then it means I must have been out all night doing something fun or interesting. But in winter the best place to be at dawn is in bed - definitely!

Tapescript 26.

Raymond Simpson’s book

I In today's edition of The Book Programme we're going to talk to Raymond Simpson, historian, and author of Race to the South Pole. Mr Simpson, the irony of the story is that although Captain Scott reached the South Pole one month after the Norwegian explorer Amundsen and died on the return journey, he got all the glory, but Amundsen, by comparison, has been largely forgotten. Do you think this fair?

RS Absolutely not. Amundsen arrived first because he was better prepared in everyway. He had done all his research and planning before setting off. He had the right clothes; he had sufficient food supplies, and most importantly, he had the right transport, that is, skis and dogs. In contrast, Scott's decision to use ponies instead of skis and dogs was absolute madness. As well as that, his food supplies were very deficient in calories for such a hard journey, and he didn't take clothes that were warm enough for the awful weather conditions. In fact I'd say Scott's planning was so bad it undoubtedly resulted in his death and the deaths of all his men. I also think Captain Scott's personality was partly to blame for the tragedy. He was quite an arrogant man, you know, who didn't listen to advice. I think he was convinced that he'd succeed simply because he was an English gentleman.

I So why do we remember Scott and not Amundsen?

RS I think we remember him principally because he and his men all died. It was a tragedy, a glorious failure. I think we always tend to remember glorious failures. But also I think we remember him because of his diaries. As you know they were discovered along with the frozen bodies of his men, and personally I think that they were written mainly to try to justify his own bad decisions.

I Race to the South Pole is a great adventure tale as well as a story of human courage and incompetence. Mr Simpson, thank you very much

Tapescript 27.

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