LAUNCESTON was chosen as the location for recording the latest episode of BBC Radio 4’s The Long View.

The programme, presented by Jonathan Freedland, looks at past events that shed light on present-day controversies.

A recording party of eight people — the presenter, on-the-day-producer, sound engineer and guest contributors — recorded the programme entirely in Launceston, including at Southgate Arch, on December 4.

It is a programme looking at Carles Puigdemont’s recent bid for Catalan independence and exploring a parallel with a moment in Cornish history when, during the English Civil War, the military commander Sir Richard Grenville devised a plan for a semi-autonomous Cornish statelet.

It was broadcast on Radio 4 on December 12, and is available online on iPlayer.

The historian, Professor Mark Stoyle of Southampton University, who is a key member of the panel suggested the BBC approach the town council to ask about recording the programme.