Catch up TV

This episode is currently not available.

Series 2: 5. St Bees to Maryport



On the last leg of his railway journey around the north west coast of England, Michael meets a lifelong fan of Alfred Wainwright’s famous guidebooks and takes the first steps along his coast-to-coast path.\n\nIn Whitehaven, once the third-busiest port in Britain, Michael visits a family butcher that has made traditional Cumberland sausages for a century. Heading inland to Cockermouth, he learns about William Wordsworth’s great love for the River Derwent, which flows alongside the garden of Wordsworth House.\n\nMichael finishes his journey in Maryport, where the Solway Firth marks the border between England and Scotland and where the tidal surge sweeps in big fish for those fishermen still using traditional haaf nets to catch them.

Source: BBC 2

Most recent episodes of Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 20. Wells-next-the-sea To The Wash

Series 3: 20. Wells-next-the-sea To The Wash

Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the eastern reaches of England is drawing to a close. His travels today begin on the smallest public railway in the world, the Wells ...

26-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 19. West Runton To Burnham Market

Series 3: 19. West Runton To Burnham Market

The oldest and largest mammoth ever found in Britain was discovered by walkers on the beach at West Runton in Norfolk. Michael Portillo examines a replica of the smallest bone i ...

25-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 18. Lowestoft To Great Yarmouth

Series 3: 18. Lowestoft To Great Yarmouth

Michael Portillo’s East Anglian coastal railway journey takes him to the treacherous waters off the Norfolk coast, which have sunk many ships and cost many lives. Michael ...

24-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 17. Woodbridge To Southwold

Series 3: 17. Woodbridge To Southwold

Michael Portillo reaches the Deben estuary on his coastal railway journey around eastern England. At Woodbridge, he is plunged in at the deep end on a rafting challenge with the ...

23-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 16. Canvey Island To Wrabness

Series 3: 16. Canvey Island To Wrabness

Michael Portillo embarks on a new railway journey around the coast of the east of England. He begins in the Thames estuary, where creeks separate Canvey Island from the mainland ...

22-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 15. Faversham To Chatham

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 ...

21-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 14. Birchington-on-sea To Whitstable

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 ...

18-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 13. Dover To Margate

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. ...

17-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 12. Folkestone To Le Touquet

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 ...

16-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 11. Eastbourne To Rye

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 ...

15-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Most popular episodes of Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 2: 12. Ballymena To Carrickfergus

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 13. Dover To Margate

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. ...

17-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 1: 4. St Andrews To Stonehaven

Series 1: 4. St Andrews To Stonehaven

Michael Portillo reaches Leuchars, known today on the railways as Leuchars for St Andrews. Scotland’s oldest university, St Andrews is located on a beautiful beachfront. M ...

09-05-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 1: 2. Leith To Culross

Series 1: 2. Leith To Culross

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 ...

07-05-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 1: 13. Morpeth To Amble

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 ...

22-05-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 1: 20. Mallaig To Isle Of Lewis And Harris

Series 1: 20. Mallaig To Isle Of Lewis And Harris

Michael reaches the terminus of the West Highland Line at Mallaig, from which he follows in the footsteps of Bonnie Prince Charlie over the sea to Skye. The island is renowned f ...

31-05-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 2. Exeter To Plymouth

Series 3: 2. Exeter To Plymouth

Michael Portillo reaches Devon’s county town, Exeter, dominated since the Middle Ages by its magnificent gothic cathedral. Michael joins the stonemasons charged with conse ...

02-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 1: 16. Fairlie To Port Glasgow

Series 1: 16. Fairlie To Port Glasgow

Michael Portillo explores the magnificent western coast of Scotland by rail and ferry, from the Firth of Clyde to the Outer Hebridean island of Lewis and Harris. Travelling aboa ...

27-05-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 2: 14. Carlingford To Dublin

Series 2: 14. Carlingford To Dublin

Michael Portillo continues his railway journey along the Atlantic and Irish Sea coasts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.\n\nFrom Newry, he sets off to cross the b ...

27-09-2023

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 10. Conwy To Colwyn Bay

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 ...

12-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

© 2026 - Catchupplayer.co.uk