Thomas Cook ceased trading in 2019, 178 years after Mr. Cook organised his first excursion train. This podcast episode looks into the early years of excursion travel and the explosion in popularity of ‘cheap trips’ opening up a world of experiences for the working classes throughout the mid 19th Century. Who were these people, how did it come about, what was the experience like?  (Please note there was an error in uploading which caused episode 1 to be played instead of episode 15. This has now been corrected, apologies!)