The tiger tamer who went to sea | Celebrity pedestrian

David Musgrove revisits the unusual feats of Victorian ‘long-distance pedestrianism’ through one of its most colourful characters, Bob Carlisle

Published: February 22, 2024 at 6:03 AM

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In 1879, Bob Carlisle shot to fame by pushing a wheelbarrow from Land’s End to John O’Groats and back. His impressive feats of ‘wheelbarrow pedestrianism’ were carried out in the name of temperance, before Carlisle unexpectedly turned his back on the cause. In the fourth episode in our new series on this larger-than-life character of the Victorian age, David Musgrove explores Carlisle’s athletic feats, speaking to sports historian Dave Day and temperance historian Annemarie McAllister to put his achievements in a historical context.

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Authors

Dr David Musgrove, FSAContent director

David Musgrove is the content director at HistoryExtra

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