Catch up TV
Series 10: 15. East Malling to Rye
Steered by his Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael Portillo is on the last leg of his journey from Warwick to Rye in East Sussex. In the orchards of East Malling, Kent, Michael discovers that the Edwardians’ serious attitude towards cultivation bore fruit. Rootstock developed at the NIAB Centre for Fruit Research, established in 1913, is today responsible for much of world apple production.\n\nIn Folkestone, Michael hears how the town coped with an influx of more than 100,000 refugees from Belgium fleeing the German invasion in 1914.\n\nIn the High Weald, Michael heads for Tenterden Town and the light railway which opened in 1900. The Kent and East Sussex heritage line has been restored by an army of volunteers. Michael lends a hand in the restoration shed and is rewarded with a wonderful trip aboard Edwardian carriages powered by a locomotive nicknamed “Terrier” to Bodiam.\n\nMichael’s last stop is the splendid medieval Cinque Port of Rye, where he tucks into a local speciality, scallops, and tours the beautiful home and garden of one of his favourite authors - the illustrious American Henry James.
Source: BBC 2
Most recent episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 11: 15. Attleborough To Skegness
Michael Portillo is in East Anglia on the last leg of his rail journey through 1930s Britain. He begins in Attleborough in Norfolk, at the headquarters of an international horse ...
30-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 11: 14. Saxmundham To Norwich
Michael Portillo continues his railway journey through eastern England from Canterbury to Skegness steered by his 1930s Bradshaw’s guidebook. \n\nStopping at Saxmundham ...
26-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 11: 13. Witham To Felixstowe
Michael Portillo's railway journey through 1930s Britain from Canterbury to Skegness reaches Witham in Essex. Here he visits the factory of the world's oldest supplier of metal ...
25-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 11: 12. Limehouse To Rochford
Following his 1936 Bradshaw’s guidebook, Michael Portillo explores the east of England, in London and Essex, en route to Lincolnshire.\n\nOn this leg, Michael alights at L ...
24-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 11: 11. Canterbury To Alexandra Palace
Steered by his 1930s Bradshaw’s guidebook, this week Michael Portillo explores the east of England in the interwar period.\n\nBeginning in Canterbury in Kent, Michael trea ...
23-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 10. Dundee To Loch Of The Lowes
Michael’s rail journey through postwar Scotland takes him over the River Tay to Dundee on the trail of Joseph McKenzie, the father of modern Scottish photography.\n\nIn Pe ...
20-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 9. Edinburgh To Queensferry
At the former Midlothian mining village of Newtongrange, Michael meets the son of a miner whose name loomed large in the disputes of the 1970s and 1980s, 'Red' Mick McGahey. On ...
19-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 8. Shawlands To Livingston
Michael Portillo continues his postwar Scottish railway adventure, this time from Glasgow to the capital, Edinburgh.\n\nAt Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Michael joins a women& ...
18-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 7. Glasgow To Cumbernauld
At the home of Scottish football, Glasgow’s Hampden Park stadium, Michael admires the oldest football trophy in the world and hears how the 'passing game' was born there. ...
17-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 6. Loch Lomond To Kelvinbridge
Michael Portillo boards the West Highland Line to begin a railway journey across Scotland’s central belt, from the Arrochar Alps to the Loch of the Lowes. \n\nAt the head ...
16-09-2024
BBC 2
Most popular episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 10. Brandon To Cambridge
Michael Portillo completes his railway journey through the east of England during the post-war period. At RAF Lakenheath, he discovers a slice of America dropped into the Britis ...
30-08-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 13. Long Itchington To Moseley
Michael Portillo’s railway journey reaches the heart of the Warwickshire countryside, where work is underway on a section of the biggest project of new railway infrastruct ...
04-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 10. Dundee To Loch Of The Lowes
Michael’s rail journey through postwar Scotland takes him over the River Tay to Dundee on the trail of Joseph McKenzie, the father of modern Scottish photography.\n\nIn Pe ...
20-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 3. Swanage To Portchester
Michael Portillo reaches England’s south coast to continue his exploration of postwar Britain. He begins in Dorset on the Swanage Railway, riding a glorious 1940s steam lo ...
11-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 13: 4. Deal To Margate
From the Kent Cinque Port of Deal, Michael heads to the splendid Walmer Castle, home during the 1920s to a Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lord Beauchamp. Michael’s guide ...
20-05-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 8. Shawlands To Livingston
Michael Portillo continues his postwar Scottish railway adventure, this time from Glasgow to the capital, Edinburgh.\n\nAt Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Michael joins a women& ...
18-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 4 - Goes To Ireland - Newbridge To Roscrea
Michael Portillo is on a rail trip through the Irish Republic. He visits the Irish National Stud and uncovers an astronomical feat of Victorian engineering.
06-05-2014
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 9. Felixstowe To Norwich
Michael Portillo continues his rail exploration of the east of England, beginning with the seafront at Felixstowe, where in January 1953, the town was engulfed in the worst floo ...
29-08-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 5. Wokingham To Heathrow
Michael begins the final leg of his journey at the Transport Research Laboratory in Wokingham, where they have been keeping Britain’s roads safe for 90 years. From Reading ...
13-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 11: 4. Dundee To Aberdeen
Michael Portillo continues his railway journey from Newcastle to Loch Ness, steered by his 1930s Bradshaw's Guide. \n\nStopping at Dundee, Michael heads for Glamis Castle, wher ...
07-08-2024
BBC 2