Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo’s railway exploration of the Channel coastline and Thames estuary via Calais has reached the Isle of Thanet. Flat and temperate, it is excellent terrain for growing.
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure along the north and south coasts of the English Channel resumes in Dover, where he recalls the biggest evacuation in military history.
Michael Portillo travels through the longest undersea tunnel in the world on the Eurotunnel shuttle rail service from Folkestone to Calais.
Michael Portillo sets off on a new railway adventure to explore the twin shores of the English Channel and the estuaries of the Thames and Medway.
Michael Portillo takes the train to the medieval walled town of Conwy on the last leg of his exploration of the shores of north Wales.
Michael is on the Isle of Anglesey, where the briny waters of the Menai Strait are being used to create a Welsh gastronomic delight.
Michael Portillo steams through the glorious scenery of the Snowdonia National Park on one of Britain’s greatest heritage lines, the Welsh Highland Railway.
Michael Portillo continues his railway journey in north Wales, tracking the coastline north from Harlech to skirt the Llyn Peninsula.
Michael Portillo embarks on a railway journey around the western coast of Wales. He begins on the Victorian Cliff Railway at Aberystwyth, finishing the first leg in Tywyn.
Michael Portillo nears the end of his railway adventure tracking the rugged coast of south west England. He finishes in the westernmost reaches of England, in the Scillonian archipelago.
Michael reaches the pretty Cornish fishing village of St Mawes, today an exclusive holiday destination for connoisseurs of yachts, fine food and luxury hotels.
Michael leaves Devon for Cornwall and the rugged Atlantic coast of its northern shore, where the ruins of Tintagel Castle emerge from the mist and spray of the sea.
Michael Portillo reaches Devon’s county town, Exeter, dominated since the Middle Ages by its magnificent gothic cathedral. He joins stonemasons charged with conserving its intricate Beer stonework.
Michael Portillo embarks on another journey exploring the shores of Britain, travelling from the Jurassic Coast to the rugged tip of the Lizard Peninsula and beyond to the spectacular Isles of Scilly.
Series 1
Michael Portillo continues his journey at the iconic Forth Bridge, before heading to tour the Royal Yacht Britannia and encountering a pair of vast steel sculptures.
Michael Portillo begins a series of coastal railway journeys around the British Isles, starting in Siccar Point, the site of an extraordinary 18th-century discovery, and finishing at Holyrood House.
Series 2
The final leg of Michael's journey begins in Fishbourne, the location of one of the most significant Roman sites in Britain.
Michael helps out at a coastguard training centre, visits the harbour master at the great maritime city of Portsmouth and learns about conservation projects in Chichester.
Michael heads from a bustling Southampton to the Isle of Wight, where he rides the island’s railway, made up of recycled London Underground trains.
Series 3, Episode 15 - Faversham to Chatham...
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Michael's adventure nears its end on the north Kent coast. In Faversham, he gets out onto the water in the last sailing barge to work on the Thames.