Playing Like Ladies

Clare Balding discovers that the freedoms Victorian public school girls found on the sports field were a precursor to the political and social freedoms that would change British society forever.

She visits Cheltenham Ladies College, founded in 1854. Headmistress, Dorothea Beale's vision for her girls was nothing short of a quiet revolution. Pupils began to do gymnastics, swimming and later, hockey and netball allowing them a physical freedom that previous generations had never known.

Readers, Sean Baker, Jo Munro and Jane Lawrence Producer: Sara Conkey.