CATCH-cast

Mark Explores the history of Travel on The Isle of Wight

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Episodes

• CATCH-cast 56 - The Man In Seat 61 (Mark Smith)

  Friday, 5 June 2026

  26 minutes

  One of Britain's most prolific travel writers and host of Seat61.com, Mark Smith, explains how and why he set up this most helpful travel blog.

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• CATCH-cast 55: Preserving Old Posters

  Friday, 29 May 2026

  25 minutes

  Do you have an old poster or some paper ephemera you want to preserve? Today's guest explains how to do that plus his interest in transport history. The 20th Century produced some of the most iconic pictorial posters for travel and events. Today's CATCH-cast guest has a lifetime in curating and preserving old posters. Join us as we delve into this fascinating subject with 20th Century Posters website curator David Bownes

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• CATCH-cast 54: Vintage Bus Festival (Rydabus)

  Friday, 22 May 2026

  23 minutes

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• CATCH-cast 53: YouTube Star Jago Hazzard

  Saturday, 16 May 2026

  22 minutes

  With 1000 videos and approaching 100 million views, Jago Hazard is one of Britons best exports! His channel is witty and wise and we coaxed him into a rare interview. Thats Jago!

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• CATCH-cast 52: Letter Man Talking Typefaces (Dan Rhatigan)

  Friday, 8 May 2026

  30 minutes

  Dan Rhatigan is one of the world's leading typeface experts, now working for the Monotype Corporation but previously for Adobe. He and fellow font geek Mark Ovenden discuss the importance of type from Letraset to lettering on your screen. A complete geek-out session which everyone will love!

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• CATCH-cast 51: TheTransportPolitic (Yonah Freeman)

  Friday, 1 May 2026

  25 minutes

  TheTransportPolitic.com is hugely influential in the train and transit world. Mark Ovenden met its creator when they were both living in Paris in the Noughties. Now Yonah is a full time lecturer, researcher and broadcaster on the importance of urbanism, especially housing and transport. Hear his life story and transport campaigns on this week's CATCH-cast, direct from Washington D.C.

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• CATCH-cast 50: HighSpeed.blog (Taras Grescoe)

  Friday, 24 April 2026

  26 minutes

  New High-Speed trains are being built everywhere...except Canada and the USA. Blogger & author Taras Grescoe explains why direct from Montreal.

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• CATCH-cast 49: Railnatter: YouTube Railway Blogger Gareth

  Friday, 17 April 2026

  27 minutes

  He talks fast and furious and he's a huge advocate of common sense in the rail industry: meet Gareth Dennis of #Railnatter.

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• CATCH-cast 48: Railways, Radio & Me (Sim Harris)

  Friday, 10 April 2026

  32 minutes

  Former Radio 4 announcer & rail journalist Sim Harris confesses he was scared of steam trains as child but came to appreciate the beauty of the railway.

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• CATCH-cast 47: HS2, GBR & Me (Christian Wolmar)

  Friday, 3 April 2026

  23 minutes

  Distinguished journalist, broadcaster and author of many railway book, Christian Wolmar, shares his thoughts on High-Speed rail (both here and in China), Great British Railways and why he wanted to be Mayor of London!

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• CATCH-cast 46: TravellingArtGallery (Greg Norden)

  Friday, 27 March 2026

  23 minutes

  Remember those beautiful artworks in old train compartments? Bucolic scenes of Britains idyllic landscapes? Greg Norden has the largest collection of them!

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• CATCH-cast Replay 7: Inter-railing Across Europe (Brendan James)

  Friday, 20 March 2026

  24 minutes

  Ever wanted to just drop everything and whiz across Europe by train. No itinerary, just jump on the first one that comes along! That's Inter-railing! One ticket: as many trips as you like! Expert Brendan James tells us how it works.

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• CATCH-cast: 150th Anniversary of the Phone (Replay 6)

  Friday, 13 March 2026

  24 minutes

  It's 150s years since Alexander Graham Bell patented the Telephone. A device that has transformed our lives! We celebrate by replaying the first CATCH-cast interview with Emeritus Professor Nigel Linge.

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• CATCH-cast 45: Timetables & Maps (Matthew Shaw)

  Friday, 6 March 2026

  25 minutes

  How are huge maps put online? What's the process to scan an entire timetable? Matthew Shaw explains to joys of collecting and displaying transport timetables and maps on his website timetableworld.com

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• CATCH-cast 44: LGBT Rail History

  Friday, 27 February 2026

  29 minutes

  For the culmination of LGBT History Month, National Railway Museum Curator Ashlynn Hudson-Welburn introduces her new project: "People Pride Progress".

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• CATCH-cast 43: Transport Treasury (Robin Fell)

  Friday, 20 February 2026

  23 minutes

  What would you do with half a million train photos? That was the task facing Robin Fell who set up the UK's largest privately owned archive of transport images. Find out how he did it on today's CATCH-cast.

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• CATCHcast 42: Bus Map Rise & Demise (John Davies)

  Friday, 13 February 2026

  25 minutes

  You may use them then discard them, but bus maps are well designed pieces of cartography and have become collectors items for John Davies. He also loves old Soviet Military Maps too! 

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• CATCH-cast: Marconi's Needles Signal Anniversary (Steve Cownley)

  Friday, 6 February 2026

  24 minutes

  125 years ago this year, Marconi sent the first radio signal over the horizon from The Needles to The Lizard (Cornwall). Isle of Wight Radio Society chair explains why it was a pivotal moment and the joys of being a radio ham.

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• 21: CATCH cast 41: Life After Cars (Sarah & Doug)

  Friday, 30 January 2026

  37 minutes

  With 40,000 killed on American roads every year and 22-lane highways still being built...how can they be weened off automobiles? Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon believe there is a Life After Cars and are inspired by some European lessons.

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• CATCH-cast 40: Rail Books & Trainspotting (Julian Holland)

  Friday, 23 January 2026

  24 minutes

  One of the UK's most prolific authors on railway books, Julian Holland, talks about his early trainspotting, background in design, Isle of Wight's closed railways and how met Jimi Hendrix!  

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• CATCH-Cast 39 - Trains on TV with Tim Dunn

  Friday, 16 January 2026

  28 minutes

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• CATCH-cast 38 David Lawrence (Designing Public Spaces)

  Friday, 9 January 2026

  32 minutes

  Motorway Service Stations, Holiday Camps, Railway Station Platforms and Buildings, the Underground...these are spaces we take for granted - but as David Lawrence reveals they have all be carefully designed. Hear from a Doctor who knows...and one with a mercurial Pirate past too! 

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• CATCH-cast 37: Daniel Wright (Beauty Of Transport)

  Friday, 2 January 2026

  26 minutes

  Can public transport be beautiful? Daniel Wright runs a whole website claiming it certainly can! From architecture to typefaces, posters to tickets...the charm and good design of our buses, stations, trains, ferries and airports is under the microscope here and at Daniel's excellent blog: thebeautyoftransport.com 

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• CATCH-cast REPLAY 4: Mobile Phones

  Friday, 26 December 2025

  28 minutes

  How the mobile phone evolved, including the role played by Hollywood's Hedy Lamarr during WW2! Islander Roger Wilkins explains his role in their development.

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• CATCH-cast 36: 20thCenturyPosters (David Bownes)

  Friday, 19 December 2025

  25 minutes

  From war and transport to sports and concerts, 20th Century posters have become collectors items. Do you have one rolled up in the loft? Former museum curator and collector David Bownes explains why 20thCentury Posters are all the rage! 

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• CATCH-cast 35: Richard Marks (Industry Past)

  Friday, 5 December 2025

  27 minutes

  From British Rail Engineering to steam tramways...Richard Marks is an expert on our industrial past. He also explains how football was crucial to WW1. 

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• CATCH-cast 34: Andrew Mead (Making Stations Arty)

  Friday, 28 November 2025

  31 minutes

  Who makes a station look more like an art gallery? And why? Today's guest is one of the Worlds most prominent commissioners of art in metro stations, Andrew Mead.

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• CATCH-cast 33: Transit Map Symposium Hong Kong

  Friday, 21 November 2025

  31 minutes

  Ever wondered what it takes to design a map of a transport system? A gathering of map and way finding designers got together in Hong Kong to discuss their works - and Mark Ovenden was there to speak to them!

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• 25: CATCH-cast REPLAY 1: Maps Vs Diagrams (Lloyd & Booth)

  Friday, 31 October 2025

  23 minutes

  The most popular CATCH-cast podcast replayed: how America's biggest subway was mapped. With Cameron Booth and Peter Lloyd, NYC Subway map experts. 

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• 18: CATCH-cast 32: Reading On Trains (Andrew Martin)

  Friday, 24 October 2025

  27 minutes

  How one of the Britain’s most prolific writers on railway subjects…kicked off an exciting Substack about Reading On Trains. Also: his new book The Moquette Mystery which brings its protagonist to the Isle of Wight.

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More episodes...