Great British Railway Journeys Ep 11/20
Michael Portillo begins his third journey, which takes him along Brunel’s Great Western Railway (GWR) from Swindon to Penzance, as he continues to discover what remains of George Bradshaw’s – the man who transformed travel in the UK – Britain.
In Bradshaw’s time, Swindon was the headquarters of the GWR and had one of the largest railway works in Britain. Michael visits the railway village in Swindon to meet Ron Glass and Mary Starley who both used to work for GWR. They tell Michael about TRIP – the annual railway worker’s holidays – during which they were given free travel on the trains to the seaside. It was the beginning of mass tourism and kick-started the development of seaside resorts in Devon and Cornwall.
Michael then travels on to Bath where he meets Dr Roger Rolls and finds out how the railways transformed this town. Once a preserve of the rich, the famous hot baths became accessible to everyone when the railways arrived. Michael finds out about the spa’s history and takes a dip himself before spending the night in the Royal Crescent, in the former home of the Duke of York.
His last stop is Bristol, where Michael tries his hand at blowing blue glass, with James Adlington. Bristol’s blue glass was world-famous in Bradshaw’s time and is one of the local industries mentioned in the guide. Although most of the industry is long gone, James has revived one small workshop to make the glass in the traditional way.
Finally, Michael travels by boat through the Bristol docks with ferryman Tom Axon to hear about Brunel’s plans for the first passenger steamship service to America. Their journey ends at the SS Great Britain, still in the docks at Bristol.
9 Responses to “Great British Railway Journeys Ep 11/20”
Comment from fred
Time January 19, 2010 at 10:52 am
I loved the bit where he entered the glass factory and there was a bloke playing the ukulele!
Comment from fred
Time January 19, 2010 at 10:54 am
Isn’t there an urban myth that the Government keeps a fleet of steam engines in secret tunnels under Box Hill in case a nuclear attack would knock out all the electric and diesel locos?
Comment from Jon Cortis
Time January 19, 2010 at 11:14 am
fred There used to be a MOD ammunition store 2nd War. If you search under Box Hill you will find a DVD for sale showing the 2 platforms entry either by rail at the west end or underground near Corsham
Comment from Babs
Time January 21, 2010 at 6:44 am
please help what is the fab music in the great britsh railway journey with micheal portillo
Comment from John Gilbert
Time January 21, 2010 at 1:43 pm
I’ve watched all the episodes so far and really enjoyed them. Michael Portillo as a presenter is a natural who comes over extremely well in this series so perhaps the BBC should sign him up permanently.
Comment from Gillian
Time January 22, 2010 at 4:15 pm
This is a gem of a programme,we have enjoyed all of them so far, and the mix of visits to small local industries and railway fact is just right, Michael as presenter has been excellent,we hope that he will be commisioned to make more television programmes in the future.
Comment from Alan Digby
Time January 26, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Enough already, I’ve suffered for the WANT TO WATCH this programme, but enough is enough.
I can NO LONGER bare the manic music that some fool has seen fit to spoil what could have been one of the best programmes on the BBC for a long time.
I’ve suffered for days, but today is the end.
Comment from John Spencer
Time January 29, 2010 at 8:11 am
I’ve watched all but two of the programmes and have thoroughly enjoyed them. Michael is such a good presenter and has visited such an interesting variety of locations and interviewed lots of charming people. The aerial shots of the trains were great too.
The only downsides of the programmes have been the background music and the lack of ‘continuity’ in some of the scenes. The music grates on the ear a bit, and the sawing violins are so repetitive, but one gets used to it after a while. A friend of mine refused to watch the programme on account of the music, which is a shame. After a while, one gets used to it!
I do hope the BBC will produce a further series. What about East Anglia or Scotland, or Ireland as suggestions?
Comment from Jon Cortis
Time January 18, 2010 at 10:53 pm
So the journey went through Box Tunnel to Bath. Why not mention that most of Bath used the limestone that came from Box Hill. Supposedly Brunel also had the tunnel built so on his birthday as the sun rose it shone from the East end to the West