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Series 9: 2. Letchworth Garden City to Herne Hill
Armed with his early 20th-century Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo explores an Edwardian utopia with a radical plan at its heart. Michael joins a garden party where a fourth-generation citizen of Letchworth introduces him to the city's community spirit. Heading into the capital, Michael discovers a favoured haunt of King Edward VII and samples the monarch's favourite tipple, the King's Ginger, invented to keep him warm in his horseless carriage.\n\nImprovements to the London Underground in the early 20th century gave us a network of electric railways, which shaped our modern capital. Inside London's newest rail tunnel, Michael meets engineer Jonathan Cooper to discover more about current improvements to London's oldest deep-level tube line, the Northern line, which is being extended.
Source: BBC 2
Most recent episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 11: 15. Attleborough To Skegness
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Series 1 - Filey To Scarborough
Documentary series. Michael Portillo learns to decipher traditional knitting patterns in Filey and meets Scarborough's 4,000-year-old Gristhorpe Man.
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Series 1 - Bugle To Mevagissey
Michael Portillo visits the largest clay mine in the world, goes pilchard fishing in Mevagissey and finds out how the estate of Heligan shaped British gardens.
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Series 2 - Oban To Corrour
Michael Portillo discovers how trains spread the word about Oban whisky, hears about the struggle to build a railway across Rannoch Moor, and visits Corrour.
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Series 2 - Llanberis To Holyhead
Michael Portillo takes a train up Mount Snowdon, witnesses the revival of Anglesey's sea salt industry and discovers how the railways transformed Holyhead.
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Series 5 - Nottingham To Leeds
Michael Portillo reaches the end of the first intercity line from London, visiting Mansfield, Worksop and Doncaster before auditioning at a Leeds music hall.
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