Great British Railway Journeys Catch up, Series 10: 5. Birmingham to the Potteries on BBC 2

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 10: 5. 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. \nAt 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.\nNext 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.\nA 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.\nAt 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.

Source: BBC 2

Most recent episodes of Great British Railway Journeys

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 13: 5. Herne Bay To Leeds Castle, Kent

Armed with his interwar copy of Bradshaw’s Guide to the Railways, Michael reaches the Kent seaside resort of Herne Bay, where he learns about a pioneering aviatrix who beg ...

18-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 13: 4. Deal To Margate

From the Kent Cinque Port of Deal, Michael heads to the splendid Walmer Castle, home during the 1920s to a Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lord Beauchamp. Michael’s guide ...

17-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 13: 3. Rye To Dungeness

Michael Portillo follows his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide to the unspoilt East Sussex Cinque Port of Rye. On the windswept harbour beach, he hears how, in 1928, a generation of ...

16-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 13: 2. Hassocks To Benenden

Starting in Hassocks, Michael makes his way to the beautiful Sussex village of Ditchling, where, between the wars, a Roman Catholic community of artists made their home. Michael ...

15-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 13: 1. Biggin Hill To Ashdown Forest

Michael Portillo experiences a terrifying ‘victory roll’ in a World War II Spitfire, high above the most famous aerodrome of the Battle of Britain, Biggin Hill. The ...

14-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 5. Chichester To Amberley

Michael Portillo’s railway tour of the green and pleasant landscape between the North and South Downs, known as the Weald, nears its conclusion.\n\nNear Chichester, Michae ...

04-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 4. Gatwick Airport To Royal Tunbridge Wells

Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the spectacular countryside of the Weald in Surrey, Sussex and Kent continues - this time, aboard the Gatwick Express train, which c ...

03-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 3. Dorking To Lingfield

Michael Portillo’s railway tour of the Weald reaches the spectacular Surrey countryside, where he finds a surprising connection to the darker reaches of the universe.\n\nI ...

02-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 2. Hildenborough To Robertsbridge

Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the historic wooded region of south east England, known as the Weald, continues from Tonbridge, at the heart of the area's rail netw ...

01-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 1. Paddock Wood To Frant

Michael Portillo takes to the rails to explore one of Britain’s oldest surviving landscapes, the woods and pasture of the Weald in south east England. Between the chalk hi ...

31-08-2026

BBC 2

All episodes