Great British Railway Journeys Catch up, Series 10: 3. Manchester to Elsecar on BBC 2

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 10: 3. 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.\nIn 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.\nIn 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.\nIn 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.\nMichael 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.\nMichael 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.

Source: BBC 2

Most recent episodes of Great British Railway Journeys

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 6. Tilbury To Barbican

Michael Portillo travels through the Britain of his youth from London’s Docklands and East End to the ‘city within a city’, the Barbican. \n\nAt Tilbury, he t ...

29-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 5. Bradford To Hebden Bridge

Michael Portillo continues his postwar exploration of north west England in Bradford, Shipley and Hebden Bridge.\n\nIn Centenary Square in Bradford, Michael encounters Bradford& ...

28-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 4. Wakefield To Leeds

From Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Michael visits the National Coal Mining Museum for England at Caphouse Colliery. He pauses to admire the tall spire of Wakefield Cathedral and it ...

27-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 3. Oldham To Wakefield

Greater Manchester’s Metrolink tram delivers Michael to the former cotton town of Oldham on the edge of the Peak District. In the stalls of the Oldham Coliseum, the town&r ...

22-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 2. Urmston To New Islington

Michael Portillo’s railway journey through north west England from Preston to Hebden Bridge reaches Greater Manchester, where Michael celebrates new beginnings for the nat ...

21-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 1. Preston To Rawtenstall

Michael Portillo strikes out to explore the Britain of his youth. He’s a 'boomer', born in the decade after the end of the Second World War, and he recalls the optimism an ...

20-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 20. Colchester To Chappel And Wakes Colne

Michael's exploration of Essex is drawing to a close. He visits Colchester, which was first mentioned in AD 77 and proudly claims to be Britain’s oldest recorded town. He ...

11-10-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 19. Witham To Saffron Walden

Arriving in the Essex market town of Witham, Michael heads into the countryside to visit Terling Place, one of the county’s great country houses. He hears how in the late ...

04-10-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 18. Chelmsford To Tollesbury

Michael Portillo’s exploration of Essex reaches Chelmsford. At a huge construction site on the outskirts of the city he discovers Beaulieu Park, the first railway station ...

27-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 17. Romford To The Blackwater Estuary

Michael’s exploration of Essex continues in Romford. He arrives on the London Overground’s Liberty Line to visit a state-of-the-art rail operating centre responsible ...

20-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes