Royal Geographical Society Celebrates 175th Anniversary [30min]

Originally founded for the advancement of geographical science, The Royal Geographical Society over the years has supported many famous explorers and expeditions, including those of Darwin, Livingstone, Scott and Shackleton. Sandi Toksvig is joined by writer and explorer Redmond O'Hanlon; intrepid geographer Nick Middleton; and the Society's Director, Rita Gardner. Together with their audience, in the heart of the Royal Geographical Society, they discuss tourism as a force for good or a destructive effect on local communities; the advisability of travelling to the world's danger spots, and what to do when camping in a wadi with the Omani army... There is also useful advice too on whether to take a penknife or a wife on an expedition. This week's guests:

Redmond O'Hanlon, writer, explorer, and author of Trawler: A Journey through the North Atlantic (Penguin Books). Redmond was elected a member of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History in 1982, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1984.

Nick Middleton, travel writer, geographer and author of Extremes Along the Silk Road: Adventures Off the World's Oldest Superhighway (John Murray). Nick has travelled to more than 70 countries and has written several travel books. In 2002 he won the Royal Geographical Society's Ness Award in recognition of his widening the public enthusiasm for geography through his travel writing.

Rita Gardner, Royal Geographical Society's Director and coauthor of Discovering Landscape in England and Wales (Kluwer Academic Publishers). Rita became Director of the Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers) in August 1996. She is a member of the Society's Wahiba Sands Project in Oman and more recently as co-leader of the Institute of Hydrology/RGS-IBG Nepal Research Project 1990-96. Her research interests include Quaternary environmental change; and aeolian and tropical geomorphology. Rita Gardner was awarded the Society's Busk Medal, for contributions to geomorphology, in 1995.