Great British Railway Journeys

Series 12

Michael Portillo makes various railway journeys across the UK, using a 150-year-old Bradshaw's Guide (a collection of railway timetables and a guidebook). He looks at the history, culture and industry of the towns that he passes through, and the way that things have changed since Bradshaw wrote his Guide.

Where to Watch Series 12

15 Episodes

Oxford to Abingdon
E1
Oxford to AbingdonMichael Portillo strikes out on another series of railway journeys, starting with a tour of the Home Counties and beyond in the city of dreaming spires, Oxford.
Stoke Mandeville to Beaconsfield
E2
Stoke Mandeville to BeaconsfieldMichael Portillo continues his travels through England's Home Counties at Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, where he discovers the legacy of a German Jewish doctor who fled the Nazis.
West Ruislip to Windsor
E3
West Ruislip to WindsorMichael Portillo heads for leafy Hatch End, where he investigates an illustrator whose work was so popular in the 1920s and 30s that his name entered the English dictionary.
Guildford to Aldershot
E4
Guildford to AldershotMichael Portillo resumes his tour of the Home Counties in the picturesque and historic county town of Guildford. English
Farnborough to Winchester
E5
Farnborough to WinchesterMichael is heading for Farnborough, Hampshire, famous today for its airshow and home to what was then the Royal Aircraft Establishment.
Saxmundham to Dedham
E6
Saxmundham to DedhamArmed with his 1930s Bradshaw's, Michael Portillo explores interwar East Anglia. Starting at Sutton Hoo, he visits the experimental Summerhill School and learns about the Kindertransport refugees.
Colchester to Chadwell Heath
E7
Colchester to Chadwell HeathMichael Portillo continues his Bradshaw's-inspired journey through East Anglia, where he discovers the Essex origins of the BBC and joins the Women's Land Army to pick damsons at Tiptree.
Potters Bar to Cardington
E8
Potters Bar to CardingtonMichael's Bradshaw travels resume in leafy Hertfordshire, where he attempts a canoe slalom course, visits the estate of Dame Barbara Cartland and hears the shocking story of the R101 airship.
Sawbridgeworth to Cambridge
E9
Sawbridgeworth to CambridgeSteered by his Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo heads for the Hertfordshire village of Perry Green to learn about Henry Moore became one of the defining artists of British modernism.
Newmarket to Walsingham
E10
Newmarket to WalsinghamMichael Portillo is in Suffolk on the last leg of his 1930s Bradshaw's inspired tour of East Anglia, visiting the racecourse at Newmarket and the Roman Catholic shrine at Walsingham.
Crewe to Shotton
E11
Crewe to ShottonOh, Mr Porter, what could he do? Michael Portillo is in Crewe, a town steeped in railway history and immortalised in Victorian music hall, to investigate the making of the iconic cinema classic, The Night Mail during the 1930s.
Rhyl to Anglesey
E12
Rhyl to AngleseyMichael Portillo's 1930s Bradshaw's-inspired railway tour of North Wales takes him to a coast lined by magnificent castles and sweeping bays.
Bangor to Betws y Coed
E13
Bangor to Betws y CoedMichael Portillo continues his 1936 Bradshaw's-inspired railway tour of North Wales in the coastal city of Bangor before turning south from Llandudno Junction to travel the Conwy Valley Line to Betws y Coed, the gateway to Snowdonia.
Blaenau Ffestiniog to Barmouth
E14
Blaenau Ffestiniog to BarmouthIn the Welsh mountains of Snowdonia, Michael Portillo reaches an abandoned mine, where in 1940 the wartime government sought sanctuary for the National Gallery’s priceless art collection. Michael hears how, as invasion appeared imminent, great masterpieces were transported by train and lorry to be stored hundreds of feet beneath the ground in a natural granite bunker. At Tan y Bwlch, Michael meets 'Blanche', who used to haul slate at Penrhyn quarry and was built in 1893. Now beautifully restored, she takes Michael on a memorable ride on the oldest narrow-gauge line in the world, the Ffestiniog Railway. In the harbour town of Porthmadog, Michael investigates the Welsh origins of a man forever associated with the Middle East, Lawrence of Arabia.
Aberystwyth to Newtown
E15
Aberystwyth to NewtownArmed with his 1930s Bradshaw's Guide, Michael Portillo travels from Aberystwyth into the Cambrian Mountains at Devil's Bridge and finishes in Newtown, Powys. Michael's 250-mile tour of North Wales draws to a close in style at the birthplace of the nation's first classical music festival, Gregynog Hall, near Newtown. Michael is intrigued to discover that its founders, sisters Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, used the fortune they inherited from their grandfather, a noted Welsh railway builder, to establish the country estate as a centre for art and music from 1933. In the glorious music room, a Welsh harpist helps to evoke the spirit of festivals past and present.