Trailblazers, 1863

Tourism arguably began with the Victorian middle class fascination with &lsquoleisure excursions&rsquo. Beginning with the great sights of Europe, they eventually covered a large chunk of the world.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the Alps were well known, but still a matter of great curiosity. So on June 26, 1863, Thomas Cook & Sons took its first party of sixty-four on a tour of the Alps with Cook acting as the guide.

Starting in Geneva and going onto Chamonix, Leukerbad and Interlaken, the group took in most of the main sights in a three-week blitz. Seven members of the Junior Alpine Club were in the party, one of whom was the excitable Miss Jemima. On her return, she wrote a spirited account of the visit, waxing eloquent about the Swiss countryside and recommending that ladies go mountaineering in crinolines

Written for the club, Miss Jemima&rsquos Swiss Journal didn&rsquot reach the general public until a copy was found in a tin box in a bombed-out warehouse at the end of World War II and published in 1963, exactly a century after her visit, complete with photographs and maps of the era, including this picture, which speaks eloquently of the determination of the tourists.

Crossing Chamonix&rsquos crevasse-ridden, 7,800ft Mer de Glace glacier in stiff corsets and flowery hats was certainly no joke. Modern tourism owes everything to them.