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Series 2 - Llanberis to Holyhead
Michael Portillo takes a train up Mount Snowdon, witnesses the revival of Anglesey's sea salt industry and discovers how the railways transformed Holyhead.
Source: BBC 2
Most recent episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 3. Swanage To Portchester
Michael Portillo reaches England’s south coast to continue his exploration of postwar Britain. He begins in Dorset on the Swanage Railway, riding a glorious 1940s steam lo ...
09-07-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 2. Chippenham To Yeovil
Michael Portillo joins Navy Wings pilots for a spectacular close formation flight in the skies over Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton. He also visits the magnificent Elizabethan ...
08-07-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 1. Denham To Swindon
Beginning at London Marylebone, the last great Victorian railway terminus to be built in the capital, Michael Portillo embarks on a postwar exploration of Britain’s southe ...
07-07-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 15. Tewkesbury To Filton
Michael Portillo is on the last leg of his railway journey from the train-building city of Derby to the aircraft manufacturing base of Filton. From Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, ...
19-02-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 14. Wolverhampton To Cheltenham
At the African and Caribbean Heritage Centre in Wolverhampton, Michael finds out about the impact of Enoch Powell's 1968 speech on immigration in Wolverhampton and across the na ...
18-02-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 13. Long Itchington To Moseley
Michael Portillo’s railway journey reaches the heart of the Warwickshire countryside, where work is underway on a section of the biggest project of new railway infrastruct ...
14-02-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 12. Coventry To Leamington Spa
In Coventry, Michael recalls the destruction by the German Luftwaffe of the city’s gothic cathedral in November 1940. He hears how architect Basil Spence won a competition ...
12-02-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 11. Derby To Hinckley
Michael Portillo explores the postwar Britain of his youth on a railway journey from the Midlands to the West Country.\n\nBeginning in Derby's famous 19th-century railway works, ...
11-02-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 10. Brandon To Cambridge
Michael Portillo completes his railway journey through the east of England during the post-war period. At RAF Lakenheath, he discovers a slice of America dropped into the Britis ...
10-02-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 9. Felixstowe To Norwich
Michael Portillo continues his rail exploration of the east of England, beginning with the seafront at Felixstowe, where in January 1953, the town was engulfed in the worst floo ...
05-02-2026
BBC 2
Most popular episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 2 - York To Saltaire
Michael Portillo takes a Turkish bath in the famous spa town of Harrogate and explores the exemplary Victorian village of Saltaire.
09-06-2014
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 11: 14. Saxmundham To Norwich
Michael Portillo continues his railway journey through eastern England from Canterbury to Skegness steered by his 1930s Bradshaw’s guidebook. \n\nStopping at Saxmundham ...
26-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 5 - Faversham To Dorking
Michael Portillo heads for Dover, little more than 25 miles from the historic enemy, the French. Here he uncovers one of Dover's best kept secrets.
23-09-2014
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 2 - Newcastle To Chester-le-street
Michael Portillo visits the first locomotive factory in the world opened by George Stephenson and searches for the lost pit village of Marsden.
03-06-2014
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 16: 11. Shrewsbury To Telford
Sharp as an arrow and armed with a longbow, Michael Portillo re-enacts the Battle of Shrewsbury, fought at the Shropshire village of Battlefield in 1403. He hears how the rebel ...
22-08-2025
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 2 - Chester To Conwy
Michael Portillo tours Chester's Roman remains, discovers a secret World War II chemical weapons plant at Rhydmwyn and goes mussel fishing on the Conwy estuary.
27-05-2014
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 14: 10. Brandon To Cambridge
Michael Portillo completes his railway journey through the east of England during the post-war period. At RAF Lakenheath, he discovers a slice of America dropped into the Britis ...
10-02-2026
BBC 2