Scratch beneath the surface of these once well-connected but now overlooked towns and their grand civic buildings and streets reveal a rich seam of history, legend and memory
• Where tourists seldom tread, parts 1-11

Ports, rivers, canals, railways, pilgrims’ pathways: these oft-overlooked, deeply engaging towns grew around transport and, as they expanded, created local networks. We usually think of leisure travel in terms of long-distance trains, cars on open roads, coaches from A to B and country walks. But suburban bus trips, urban hikes and commuter trains offer rich possibilities.