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Great British Railway Journeys Season 10 (complete) (1280x720p HD, 50fps, soft Eng subs)
E01 Warrington to Preston
Armed with his early 20th century Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael Portillo embarks on a new journey through Britain’s industrial heartland in the footsteps of King George V. Starting at what was then the gateway to Lancashire - Warrington - Michael discovers this was no ordinary royal tour. He learns how it began with huge excitement among townsfolk, whose mayor Dr George Joseph received the royal party in the parlour of Warrington’s magnificent town hall.
Following the royal route, Michael heads to Huyton to the seat of the Stanley family, Knowsley Hall, where he finds King George V and Queen Mary were accommodated and entertained in grand style by the 17th Earl of Derby. His great-grandson, the 19th earl, takes Michael behind the scenes.
Travelling on to Leyland, Michael visits the Hutton and Howick Women’s Institute, the first to be created in Lancashire, to learn about its suffragette origins and founder Edith Rigby. Michael helps to make some pink fabric flowers, then joins the chorus for women’s suffrage.
Michael arrives in Preston at one of his favourite railway stations and heads for Preston North End’s Deepdale football stadium, where he discovers the origins of one of Britain’s earliest and most successful women’s football teams, the Dick Kerr Ladies.
E02 Blackburn to Manchester
Michael Portillo continues his rail tour of Britain’s industrial northwest, steered by his early nineteenth century Bradshaw’s guide.
In Blackburn, he catches a rare glimpse of Edwardian life on celluloid and marvels at how factory workers and schoolchildren alike were drawn to seek fame on film.
Continuing east to Nelson, Michael braves the enemy camp to have a pint of tea with the socialist working classes in Britain’s last Clarion House. Way out of his comfort zone, he is heartened by their warm welcome.
Taking his rail campaign south, Michael reaches a magnificently renovated mid-19th century Manchester Victoria station, from where he heads to the Manchester Art Gallery to investigate reports of an outrage in 1913.
Michael discovers the former home, now a museum and women’s centre, of the radical family that advocated such outrages, the Pankhursts. He hears from the curator what motivated Emmeline and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia and learns how they made themselves heard.
E03 Manchester to Elsecar
Armed with his early 20th-century Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael Portillo continues his journey from Warrington to the Potteries in Stoke-on-Trent.
In Manchester, at the magnificent Heaton Park, Michael discovers one of the first open-air concerts was held here in 1909 by an opera fan, William Grimshaw, who entertained 40,000 people to the music of opera superstar Enrico Caruso on a gramophone.
In Oldham, Michael discovers the battle fought by one of Britain’s most distinguished statesmen to be elected as the town’s member of Parliament. And he uncovers the rough tactics of the election campaign.
In Edale, in the beautiful Peak District, Michael joins ramblers in walking country. He learns that, at the time of his guide, landowners did not countenance intrusion and he hears how a Sheffield socialist spearheaded a mass trespassing revolt to open up the countryside to working people.
Michael picks up the trail of King George V and Queen Mary, who visited the vast and Yorkshire estate of Wentworth Woodhouse in 1913. Home to one of the wealthiest dynasties in Britain, the Earls Fitzwilliam, their fortune was built on coal. Michael discovers a carefully planned royal charm offensive designed to win the affection and trust of the working classes at a time of severe industrial unrest.
Michael follows the royal party’s footsteps to Lord Fitzwilliam’s mining village and colliery, where the family’s private railway line, which later connected the estate’s iron and coal works, still runs. Michael takes a trip and is permitted to operate the locomotive.
E04 Maltby to Hinckley
Michael Portillo continues his tour of Britain’s industrial heartlands guided by his early 20th-century Bradshaw’s. Michael heads for Maltby, where he is caught up with the thrill of the chase as he investigates the high-octane sport of whippet racing. He learns how this 'poor man’s sport' grew during the 19th century in the mining towns of the north and retains its appeal today.
From Derby, Michael heads for nearby Kedleston Hall, built for the Curzon family in 1765 and home to the first Marquess, Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, at the turn of the 20th century. Michael learns of Curzon’s passion for architecture and art, and discovers how he protected Britain’s heritage.
Michael’s taste buds are sorely tested in Burton-on-Trent, where he endeavours to understand the appeal of a dark Edwardian spread which is loved – and hated – all over Britain. Even an arch fan may fail to get him to acquire the taste.
On arrival at Hinckley station, Michael is whisked by motorbike to the Triumph factory, where he discovers how these iconic vehicles were developed at the beginning of the 20th century. The first motorcycle to be built, in 1902, and a world-famous 1960s motorbike are housed here.
E05 Birmingham to the Potteries
Armed with his Bradshaw’s guide, Michael Portillo reaches Birmingham and discovers how a radical reformer would make his mark on the city of a thousand trades. At Highbury Hall, he finds Joseph Chamberlain’s splendid mansion home and hears how he established a political dynasty including a prime minister and a foreign secretary. Next stop is Cradley Heath, at the time of his Bradshaw’s one of five chain-making towns in the West Midlands. Michael learns how 90 per cent of the chain workshops in England and Wales were located here and that female workers earned a pittance to produce goods in their homes. He discovers how discontent came to a head in 1910 and a Scottish woman led workers to strike for the first time. A book on Railway Law for the Man in the Train is required reading for Michael as he travels to Landywood, where he engages in some detective work on behalf of its author, one George Edalji. Michael follows an investigation carried out by Arthur Conan Doyle in the early 1900s into a miscarriage of justice. At the centre of Britain’s ceramic industry in Stoke-on-Trent, Michael visits Wedgwood, established by the Queen’s Potter Josiah Wedgwood in 1759 and visited in 1913 by King George V and Queen Mary. He hears how the royal couple used their visit to forge links with working people and thereby strengthened the monarchy. Touring the factory, Michael admires the exquisite decoration of the ceramic painters and tries his hand at clay spinning.
E06 Newry to Portadown
Steered by his Edwardian Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael Portillo navigates his way by rail – and ferry - across Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands from Newry to Argyll and Bute.
Early 20th-century Britain was reeling from industrial strife and suffragette outrages, but the biggest crisis of all was the conflict in Ireland. Beginning in Newry, Michael finds a specially chartered train would deliver demonstrators campaigning for Irish Home Rule to a rally in the town.
On the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic at Glaslough, Michael is amused to discover a christening robe belonging to Sir Winston Churchill and hears how he and his American mother saved the impressive Castle Leslie.
Michael finds himself in a sticky situation at an Edwardian bakery in Portadown when he attempts to make an Irish staple, soda bread. At Scarva, Michael discovers the importance of Irish linen for aircraft during the First World War, and in the hangars of the Ulster Aviation Society he learns how a replica Ferguson Flyer from 1909 was built.
E07 Belfast to Portrush
Michael Portillo continues his rail journey through Northern Ireland steered by his Bradshaw’s Guide. In Belfast’s grand Edwardian City Hall, Michael investigates the scene of a watershed moment in Irish history and hears how thousands of Ulster Protestants were mobilised by train to sign a document pledging opposition to Home Rule for Ireland.
Michael follows Belfast author CS Lewis into the wardrobe to reach the magical world of Narnia and learns how religion influenced Lewis's work. From Antrim, he heads to the shores of Lough Neagh, the biggest lake in the British Isles, where he finds the largest wild eel fishery in Europe and joins a fisherman and his wife for a traditional eel meal.
On the greens of Portrush, Michael visits the Royal Portrush Golf Club to find out how Ireland’s fair sex dominated the fairways at the time of his guide
E08 Larne to Dumfries
Michael Portillo continues his journey from Northern Ireland across the water to Scotland. Leaving from the seaport of Larne he reaches Stranraer and the Mull of Galloway, where in a lighthouse built by railway engineer Robert Stevenson, he discovers a magnificent machine, installed at the turn of the 20th century.
In the Lowland town of Cumnock, canvassers are out in force - it is the cradle of the Labour Party and home of its founder, Keir Hardie. Michael braves enemy territory to discover Hardie’s influence today.
Close to the border with England, Michael arrives in Dumfries, where he seeks out an enchanted land and a boy who would never grow up. Peter Pan and Neverland were the creations of author JM Barrie, who played at Moat Brae as a child. With assistance from Peter, Tinkerbell, and Wendy, Michael helps the Moat Brae trust with the restoration of its garden.
E09 Glasgow to Cumbrae
Michael Portillo continues his journey through western Scotland by exploring the industrial heartland of Glasgow and its mighty River Clyde before taking the ferry to the island of Cumbrae.
With his early 20th-century Bradshaw’s guide in hand, he is put to work behind the scenes at Glasgow’s circular subway, explores the future of shipbuilding on the Clyde and hears how one woman led a successful mass protest against high rents in the city’s notorious tenements.
On the island of Cumbrae, Michael investigates a forgotten Scottish expedition to the Antarctic and discovers the beauty of intertidal marine life.
E10 Hillhead to Connel Ferry
Armed with his Edwardian Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael Portillo falls into line with the University of Glasgow’s Officer Training Corps. Founded in the early 20th century, the Corps flourishes today and Michaels joins students for drill.
From Glasgow, Michael heads west along the Firth of Clyde to Helensburgh, where he discovers a pioneering group of artists known as the Glasgow Boys.
The idyllic West Highland Line takes Michael deep into the Highlands to Inveraray and the ancestral home of the Clan Campbell and the Dukes of Argyll. Here, he discovers an unconventional royal marriage between Queen Victoria’s spirited daughter, Princess Louise, and a commoner, the Marquess of Lorne, later the 9th Duke of Argyll.
Michael’s final stop is Connel Ferry, near Oban, where, on the Achnacloich Estate, he discovers Lily, a pedigree Highland calf. Michael learns how Lily’s herd has been owned continuously by the Nelson family since 1901 and hears how the breed has become an icon of the Highlands.
E11 Warwick to Radley
Michael Portillo embarks on a journey through Edwardian Britain, steered by his early twentieth century Bradshaw’s Guide. In Warwick’s medieval castle he uncovers the scene of an extravagant and scandalous ball, which changed the life of its hostess, Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick.
At Cowley, Michael marvels at a spectacularly automated state-of-the-art production line producing 1,000 Minis a day and probes the pre-First World War origins of the Morris Oxford. He is delighted to find that cars for export are loaded in Italian Job style on to trains at the factory’s own railhead.
In Oxford, Michael finds how medieval pottery at the Ashmolean Museum inspired TE Lawrence to pursue archaeology in the Middle East, where he was co-opted into British intelligence and helped to mastermind the famous attacks on the Hejaz Railway. And at Radley, Michael hears a song setting by composer George Butterworth, who taught music at Radley College before he and many former pupils were killed in the First World War.
E12 Reading to Taplow
Armed with his Edwardian Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael Portillo picks up his rail journey from Warwick to Rye along the River Thames. In Reading, he traces the origins of education for workers. Messing about in boats is the name of the game in Henley on Thames, where Michael slips into a launch to hear about the world-famous regatta. Afternoon tea on the bank offers a chance to hear about four heroes of early 20th-century literary classic The Wind in the Willows.
In the pretty village of Cookham, Michael encounters heaven on earth for the artist Stanley Spencer, and across the river at Cliveden he explores the great Italianate mansion, which once belonged to the Astor family. Michael finds out about one of its most famous members, the first woman to take a seat in Parliament, Nancy Astor.
E13 Ealing Broadway to South Kensington
Michael Portillo reaches the capital on his rail journey from Warwick to Rye in East Sussex. In the Queen of the Suburbs, Ealing, he finds comedy at the home of British cinema and is transformed for the silver screen by expert hair and make-up.
In Fulham, Michael heads underground to London’s new super sewer, which is taking shape beneath the River Thames. In central London, he visits the London School of Economics and Political Science to hear about its foundation by Fabians at the turn of the 20th century and to meet present day students.
An introduction to Japanese martial arts awaits Michael at the Budokwai dojo in Kensington. Will there be a soft landing?
E14 Piccadilly Circus to Gravesend
Michael Portillo hits the West End to explore an exotic store, which was a favourite among Edwardian ladies. At Covent Garden’s Royal Ballet School he hears how in 1909 a Russian ballet company took London by storm and how its prima ballerina inspired the school’s founding choreographer.
Leaving the capital from Charing Cross, Michael heads for Dartford in Kent, where he discovers the origins of netball and gymslips at the North Kent College. He finishes this leg of his journey from Warwick to Rye on the Thames at Gravesend, where he is impressed by the pilots of the Port of London Authority, founded in the early 20th century.
E15 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.
In Folkestone, Michael hears how the town coped with an influx of more than 100,000 refugees from Belgium fleeing the German invasion in 1914.
In 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.
Michael’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.
First broadcast: February 2019
Duration: 30 minutes per episode
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