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"The M1 ain't much fun, unless you're doin' the ton," claimed a 1960s English pop song. Not so. The M1, England's best-known motorway, offers plenty, especially to the traveller who pulls off the motorway and turns straight into, say, the 15th century.

History in the Midlands is where you trip over it. For instance, in a quiet square in Oakham, Leicestershire I spotted the town's 15th century whipping post and stocks. Left-overs from the days when drunks were pelted with trash until they sobered up, the stocks still look fit for use on next Saturday night's lager losers.

Around the corner sits a modest, 12th century Norman castle, with 200 ornamental horseshoes mounted on its inside walls. On the first visit to Oakham by any English peer, he or she donates a horseshoe to the castle. Edward IV started the tradition in 1470. The Duke of Edinburgh and Elizabeth II's horseshoes are prominent, but not yet one from Prince Charles. Given the association between horseshoes and good luck, perhaps Charles should send one from his polo pony, pronto.

Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire has claims to both fame and infamy. Richard III was born here in 1452, while in 1587, after years in captivity, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle. This is no pseudo-historic theme park; catching sight of a date -1498 - on the bridge you just drove over, you then wander among buildings like the Old Inn (1400) and the Church of Queen Mary and All Saints (1415). A ploughman's lunch and an ale at the Falcon Restaurant will return you to contemporary figures.

England can seem like a massive movie production lot, and nowhere more so than in the Midlands. The British Tourist Authority's Movie Maps point out sites such as Sudbury Hall (where Pride and Prejudice was shot), Haddon Hall (Jane Eyre) and the Peak District village of Crich, known as "Cardale" in television's stethoscope soapie, Peak Practice.

The BBC chose Stamford, Lincolnshire as the setting for its 1993 drama series, Middlemarch, based on George Eliot's novel. Although they invested $12 million in the production, little needed to be spent on the streetscapes of Stamford, known as "the finest stone town in England."

I stumbled across an oblique movie connection in the Leicestershire town of Uppingham whose Public School, founded in1584, looks like it might have hosted Dr Frankenstein as an exchange student. Dank stones and colonnades. I was gratified to learn that one of the school's most famous pupils was, indeed, the horror movie star, Boris Karloff.

"Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" is the Midlands' equivalent of George Washington or Madonna - she seems to have slept everywhere. Mary Queen of Scots was not only a Scot but a Catholic - an unforgivable combination in the eyes of the English, since she was first in line for their throne. For 19 years Mary was held captive in this area on the orders of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

From 1568 onwards, Mary was moved from castle to castle in order to keep her away from sympathisers. Many places now recall the time Mary came to town. Fotheringhay's hospitality was not much to boast about. She enjoyed a healthier visit to the spa resort of Buxton, Derbyshire where you'll find a plaque on the crumbling facade of the Old Hall Hotel: "Mary Queen of Scots Stayed Here 1576-1586." At Hardwick Hall (near Chesterfield), a palace built by the formidable Bess of Hardwick, I discovered the "Mary Queen of Scots Bedroom". Nice four-poster and curtains but, as the curators admit, construction on Hardwick Hall did not finish until 1597, 10 years after Mary's head had rolled.

Chatsworth House, near Bakewell, Derbyshire was voted in 1996 as "England's Favourite National Treasure" - beating, presumably, the Queen Mother and Mr. Bean. Chatsworth, home of the Cavendish family for 450 years, boasts a park of 1000 acres with mazes, ponds and cascades; inside, you stroll among the works of Velasquez, Veronese, Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Gainsborough.

Midlands palaces - often known as Stately Homes or Treasure Houses - such as Chatsworth, Hardwick, Burghley House (near Stamford) and Haddon Hall (also near Bakewell) are loaded with the loot of centuries. Galleries of ancestral portraits, Flemish tapestries and cavernous kitchens are among their standard fittings. The gardens feature intricate topiary or the sweeping vistas often created by 18th century landscaping maestro, Capability Brown.

England might be less a nation of shopkeepers than a republic of publicans. Which is a great relief for the aristocratically-exhausted traveller. The Midlands pub plays tradition back at you - even quaintly calling itself a "Free House"- but these days your quiet ale will be little disturbed by monarchs or head-loppings.

Pubs are more than just suds; there are usually rooms upstairs - in which you may find yourself sleeping with history. Stamford, for instance, has some 50 pubs of which the oldest, The George, was my shelter for a few nights. This warren of rooms was founded over 1000 years ago, later becoming a coaching inn on the Great North Road, beside which it still stands. By contrast, the Peacock Inn at Rowsley (Derbyshire) seemed absolutely modern, having been founded only in 1651.

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