Michael Portillo continues his 300-mile Scottish coastal journey along the Firth of Forth at the railway engineering icon for which it is famous throughout the world – the Forth Bridge. A highlight for rail travellers, Michael remembers his delight in the crossing as a child visiting his Scottish grandparents.\n\nOn the firth’s southern bank, Michael stops in the port of Leith to tour the Royal Yacht Britannia. Now decommissioned, she is moored as an attraction. Michael is fascinated to hear how guests were entertained on board and is happy to recall an experience of his own concerning the fate of the world-famous vessel.\n\nHeading west along the coast to Bo’ness, Michael savours the smuts puffing from the chimney of the Caledonian Blue locomotive belonging to the heritage Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway. The enthusiasm of the volunteers who run the line is infectious.\n\nThe next stop is in the Forth Valley close to Falkirk, where the Forth and Clyde Canal meets the River Carron and two 300-tonne steel sculptures tower over a vast eco-park. Michael is introduced to the Kelpies, Duke and Baron, by their creator, sculptor Andy Scott, who joins him on a video call from the United States.\n\nMichael crosses the River Forth at Stirling, heading east to Alloa on the northern bank. One of Scotland’s oldest industries continues here today – glass manufacture. Michael tours a vast bottle-making plant staffed by generation upon generation of glass workers in a 270-year-old factory. \n\nTravelling downstream to Culross, Michael discovers the railway - now freight only - runs along the waterfront because coastal strips of land such as this were flat and therefore relatively cheap. It cut the village from its foreshore. In Culross, Michael discovers a wonderfully preserved palace and recreated 16th-century garden.
Source: BBC 2
Series 3: 15. Faversham To Chatham
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure zig-zagging the coasts of the English Channel and the Thames estuary nears its end on the north Kent coast. The pretty and historic to ...
26-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 14. Birchington-on-sea To Whitstable
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 f ...
25-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 13. Dover To Margate
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. ...
24-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 12. Folkestone To Le Touquet
Michael Portillo travels through the longest undersea tunnel in the world on the Eurotunnel shuttle rail service from Folkestone to Calais.\n\nIn Calais, Michael is reminded tha ...
23-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 11. Eastbourne To Rye
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.\n\nAt Cuckmere Haven, he enjoy ...
22-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 10. Conwy To Colwyn Bay
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.\n\nOn a coastal ridge overlooking the estu ...
19-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 9. The Isle Of Anglesey
Michael Portillo resumes his railway exploration of north Wales on the Isle of Anglesey, where the briny waters of the Menai Strait are being used to create a Welsh gastronomic ...
18-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 8. Porthmadog To Anglesey
Michael Portillo steams through the glorious scenery of the Snowdonia National Park on one of Britain’s greatest heritage lines, the Welsh Highland Railway. Stopping off a ...
17-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 7. Harlech To Abedaron
Michael Portillo continues his railway journey in north Wales, tracking the coastline north from Harlech to skirt the Llyn Peninsula. \n\nBeginning on the shifting sands of Morf ...
16-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 6. Cardigan Bay To Abergynolwyn
Michael Portillo embarks on a railway journey around the ragged rocks of the western coast of Wales. He begins on the Victorian Cliff Railway at Aberystwyth, rising above the hi ...
15-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 12. Folkestone To Le Touquet
Michael Portillo travels through the longest undersea tunnel in the world on the Eurotunnel shuttle rail service from Folkestone to Calais.\n\nIn Calais, Michael is reminded tha ...
23-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 3. Tintagel To St Austell
Crossing the River Tamar via Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s magnificent Royal Albert Bridge, Michael leaves Devon for Cornwall and the rugged Atlantic coast of its northern sho ...
10-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 9. The Isle Of Anglesey
Michael Portillo resumes his railway exploration of north Wales on the Isle of Anglesey, where the briny waters of the Menai Strait are being used to create a Welsh gastronomic ...
18-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 1: 6. Inverness To The Cairngorms
Michael Portillo crosses the Culloden Viaduct aboard the Caledonian Sleeper to arrive bright and early in the coastal city of Inverness, from where he heads north on a magnifice ...
01-08-2023
BBC 2
Series 2: 7. Whitby To Robin Hood's Bay
Michael Portillo continues his railway adventure at Whitby, where he explores the port’s shipbuilding and seafaring heritage.\n\nIn Grosmont, Michael boards the first stea ...
27-07-2023
BBC 2
Series 2: 2. Liverpool To Blackpool
From the Isle of Man, Michael Portillo crosses the Irish Sea, bound for the mighty port of Liverpool and its historic waterfront. \n\nAt the International Slavery Museum in Roya ...
22-06-2023
BBC 2
Series 2: 12. Ballymena To Carrickfergus
Michael Portillo is in the glens of Antrim, where Ireland’s folklore and magical myths flourish and he is transfixed by tales of fairies and legends of the sea. \n\nAt th ...
13-09-2023
BBC 2
Series 1: 13. Morpeth To Amble
Michael Portillo explores the wild and rugged coastline of Northumberland by rail. He begins today in Morpeth, where he finds a historic collection of Northumbrian bagpipes and ...
30-08-2023
BBC 2
Series 3: 8. Porthmadog To Anglesey
Michael Portillo steams through the glorious scenery of the Snowdonia National Park on one of Britain’s greatest heritage lines, the Welsh Highland Railway. Stopping off a ...
17-04-2024
BBC 2
Series 2: 3. Morecambe To Grange-over-sands
Michael Portillo continues his rail journey. He looks out across the vast and beautiful Morecambe Bay and joins one of the town’s last shrimpers to learn how potted shrimp ...
26-06-2023
BBC 2