December 10, 2009
In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain. His name was George Bradshaw and his railway guides inspired Victorians to take to the tracks. Now, 170 years later, Michael Portillo continues on four epic journeys across the length and breadth of the country to see what remains of Bradshaw’s Britain and how the railways changed the nation.
On the first leg of his second journey, Michael heads north from Preston in Lancashire to Kirkcaldy in Scotland. At his first stop, he meets Anne Hindley, a member of the Temperance Society, to hear how the hard-working, hard-boozing mill town of Preston gave birth to the Temperance Movement. Continuing north to Blackpool, Michael meets Norma and Norman Watkins on the “Passion Express” which, in the Fifties, was the train that carried youngsters to Blackpool to dance the night away and on which many a romance was started. Norma and Norman met on the train and have been together ever since.
Once in Blackpool, Michael heads for the Tower Ballroom, where town crier Barry McQueen, accompanied by the Tower organist, gives a special performance of a Victorian music-hall hit all about Bradshaw’s Railway Guide. As Michael takes in the sights of Blackpool, he discovers that the town’s birth as a resort was a direct result of the railways.
Michael spends the night in a familiar hotel, the Imperial, which, in its time, has hosted many party conferences and a few Prime Ministers. After a stroll along the pier with local comedian Joey Blower, Michael travels on to his final destination, Morecambe Bay, where he meets Cedric Robinson, the “Keeper of the Sands”, an official guide appointed by the Government whose role is mentioned in Bradshaw’s notes. Cedric protects walkers venturing out onto the shifting tidal reaches of Morecambe Bay.
December 10, 2009
Michael Portillo returns to the historic Settle to Carlisle line, a route he helped to save when he was Minister of State for Transport in the Eighties, in the second leg of his second journey from Preston to Kirkcaldy. In Settle, he meets Mark Rand and Peter Horton, who campaigned to keep the line open, to find out what has happened to it since.
From Settle, he travels north to a remarkable feat of Victorian engineering, the Ribblehead Viaduct, one of the largest in Britain. In the Eighties, engineer Tony Feschini was charged with repairing it when it was crumbling away. He tells Michael what life was like for the navvies who originally built the line and the viaduct by hand. Most of them lived in disease-ridden and overcrowded work camps through the harsh Yorkshire winters. In a nearby pub, Michael meets James Rixon, whose ancestors helped to build the viaduct. Before moving on, Michael visits the graveyard where many of the workers, their wives and their children ended up.
That night, Michael sleeps in the old snow huts at the highest railway station in England, Dent. These snow huts – now converted into holiday accommodation – were used by railwaymen sent up to Yorkshire during the winter to shovel snow off the line and keep the trains running. Before leaving Dent, Michael discovers how keeping the line open has stimulated tourism in the area and helped to build local businesses, like the blacksmiths.
In a grand finale, Michael catches one of the regular summer steam trains along the line across the restored Ribblehead viaduct.
December 10, 2009
Michael Portillo embarks on a two-day tour of the Lake District, as the third leg of his journey from Preston to Kirkcaldy continues, in the series that sets out to discover what remains of George Bradshaw’s – the man who transformed travel in the UK – Britain.
Following Bradshaw’s guide, Michael starts in Windermere, where steamboat enthusiast Roger Mallinson takes him out on his boat to the north end of the lake. There, they take tea and enjoy the views just as the Victorians did.
Michael then stops off at Claife viewing station, a popular lakeside attraction in Bradshaw’s day, before heading to the south end of the lake to meet environmentalist John Pinder. John explains how increasing levels of tourism have resulted in high levels of pollution in the water, and he and his colleagues sail out onto the water with Michael to show him how they’re monitoring pollution levels in the lake, and how they’re reducing them.
Back on dry land, Michael spends the night in Grasmere at the Swan Inn. Recommended by Bradshaw, it was also one of Wordsworth’s favourite places for breakfast. The next day he travels on to Kendal where, after a brief stop in the market to buy some Kendal mint cake, he meets local farmer Peter Gott. Peter’s family have been in the area for hundreds of years and he talks to Michael about the impact the railways had on farming practices. Peter also takes Michael up onto the fells to see his herd of local Herdwick sheep, and teaches him how to make sausages in his farm shop.
December 10, 2009
Michael Portillo reaches the wild border country in today’s leg of his journey from Preston to Kirkcaldy.
His first stop is Carlisle, where he meets artist Gordon Young, a descendant of the Border Reivers, a bunch of ancient lawless clansmen from the area who are mentioned in Bradshaw’s guide. Michael then visits a pub where a local band plays the ballads of the Reivers, as collected by Sir Walter Scott.
Michael’s next stop is Gretna Green, where blacksmith Alistaire Houston tells Michael about the town’s famous marriage business. Bradshaw predicted the end of Gretna’s marriage trade, but it is still going strong today. Michael congratulates a newlywed couple who, true to form, eloped over the border.
Just outside Gretna, Michael heads to an old Ministry of Defence munitions site to meet manager David Watt. David shows Michael around the site on its internal railway system and explains how, in the First World War, thousands of women made a lethal explosive concoction called Devil’s Porridge.
Michael’s last stop in this programme is the great Scottish city of Glasgow. In a Victorian version of poverty tourism, Bradshaw guides Michael to Calton, an area of great social deprivation in Victorian times. Today, Michael meets writer and resident Janey Godley who tells him the area isn’t that different now – residents of Calton have one of the lowest life expectancies in the country. He also visits the centre of Glasgow, which is enjoying a renaissance in popularity.
December 10, 2009
Friday 15 January
On the last leg of his journey from Preston to Kirkcaldy, Michael Portillo leaves Glasgow and heads for Carluke in the Clyde Valley. In George Bradshaw’s day – the man who transformed travel in Britain – the area was famous for its orchards and, although most are long gone, Michael meets grower Tom Clelland, who is trying to revive his family’s fruit-growing business.
Heading on to the capital city of Edinburgh, Michael stops in at the station’s lost-property office to find out about the weird and wonderful things left on trains. He then heads towards the centre of town, where Bradshaw leads him to a very famous cellar, rumoured to be the place where the Treaty of Union was signed. Michael finds out from historian Dr John Young what happened when the treaty was signed.
After spending the night in Edinburgh’s famous railway hotel, The Balmoral, Michael heads to the Forth Rail Bridge to fulfil a childhood dream. Having passed over the bridge many times on the way to his grandparents’ house in Kirkcaldy, he gets the chance to climb up it and enjoy the view from the top. He meets project manager Ian Heigh, who explains that the seemingly unending task of painting the Forth Rail Bridge is, in fact, about to stop. The bridge is being repainted with new, long-life paint so that it won’t need as much maintenance in the future.
Michael’s journey ends at his mother’s home town of Kirkcaldy. His grandfather made his wealth here, through the linen business, and bought a large house next to the railway line. Many years spent watching the steam trains with his brothers at the bottom of the road inspired Michael’s lifelong love of trains. He returns to the art gallery in Kirkcaldy, to see the collection of paintings donated to the city by his grandfather, John Blyth.
December 9, 2009
In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain. His name was George Bradshaw and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks. Stop by stop, he told people where to travel, what to see and where to stay. Now, 170 years later, Michael Portillo makes four epic journeys across the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us and what remains of Bradshaw’s Britain.
The first journey sees Michael travel coast to coast, from Liverpool to Scarborough. His first stop is the great port of Liverpool, where he meets local author Peter Grant. Michael gets a lesson in how to speak Scouse, as they explore the impact of immigration on the city and its famous accent.
Michael then visits Birkenhead Park, one of the inspirations for Central Park in New York. There he meets Mervyn Kingston, whose family fled from Russia in the 1880s when the Jews were being persecuted in the pogroms. Mervyn tells Michael that many of the Jewish refugees ended up in Liverpool, after catching the train from Hull, to begin their journey to America.
Leaving Liverpool, Michael travels along the world’s first passenger railway line to Manchester. Stopping off at Rainhill, he talks to rail expert Christian Wolmar about the Rainhill Trials – the first locomotive race which was won by Stephenson’s Rocket – and also finds out about the first railway fatality.
After spending the night in Worsley, Michael explores the nearby underground canals, part of the world’s first canal system built by the Duke of Bridgewater. At his last stop, he meets Ian Edmonds for a tour of his family’s cake factory – the last remaining Eccles cake business in the area. There, Michael has a go at folding an Eccles cake and finds out why these sweet pastries were exported all over the world.
December 9, 2009
In the second leg of his first journey from Liverpool to Scarborough, Michael Portillo visits “cottonpolis” – George Bradshaw’s home town of Manchester – as the series that explores how the railways changed the nation continues.
Meeting up with tour guide Jonathan Schofield, Michael finds out how the world’s first railway helped to turn Manchester’s cotton industry into a global success.
Michael then takes the train out to Denton in the suburbs of Manchester. This was once the centre of the hat-making world, turning out thousands of hats which were transported all over the country on the railways. Here, Michael meets Karen Turner from Failsworth Hats, the last remaining hat factory in the area. Karen fits Michael for his own custom-made trilby which, some say, was invented here, and he finds out where the phrase “mad as a hatter” came from.
Back in the centre of Manchester, historian Trefor Thomas tells Michael more about Bradshaw and how he came to produce the world’s first pocket railway timetables.
Leaving Manchester for Bury, Michael meets businessman Tony Rogers to find out how the railways helped to create the national institution of fish and chips. The railways allowed fish to travel quickly inland and it soon became available everywhere, allowing fish and chip shops to flourish all over Britain. Tony runs a fish and chip shop supply business and takes Michael to one of the best shops in the area for a fish supper.
December 9, 2009
The first stop in today’s leg of Michael Portillo’s journey from Liverpool to Scarborough is the West Yorkshire town of Todmorden, as he continues to find out what remains of George Bradshaw’s Britain.
In Bradshaw’s day, the railways made it possible for food to travel quickly and cheaply all over the country, transforming the UK’s eating habits. Today, things are changing and, in Todmorden, the aim is to become self-sufficient and cut down on food miles. Michael meets Pam Warhurst, who is showing people how to grow vegetables and source their food locally.
Travelling on to Skipton, Michael meets railway carriage restorer Stephen Middleton and samples first-class travel Victorian style on the Embsay And Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. He visits the nearby ruins at Bolton Abbey, a great favourite with Victorian tourists, and spends the night at the Devonshire Arms, a 350-year-old coaching inn mentioned in Bradshaw’s guide.
For the next part of the journey, Michael and his Bradshaw guide take to the skies with a trip on the Network Rail helicopter to survey the tracks and monitor coastal erosion. In Bradshaw’s time, this kind of work would have been done by linesmen walking the tracks but, these days, the lines are checked with infrared cameras.
Back on the ground, Michael finds out what makes train spotters tick, before exploring York’s Roman remains with archaeologist Andy Jones. Bradshaw wrote a great deal about Roman York but what has been discovered since then?
December 9, 2009
Michael Portillo continues his journeys to find out what remains of George Bradshaw’s – the man transformed travel in 1840 – Britain.
Michael meets Tom Dixon, the last liquorice grower in Pontefract, as part of the fourth leg of his journey from Liverpool to Scarborough. Pontefract was covered in liquorice fields in Bradshaw’s time and it was here that the Pontefract, or Pomfret cake, was invented. Michael finds out what’s happened to the liquorice industry since Bradshaw’s time and visits a new sweet factory.
His next stop is Hull, once the destination for “monster excursions” involving massive trains carrying thousands of early tourists to the coast. In Hull, Michael investigates why Bradshaw compared the city to Venice, before meeting maritime historian Robb Robinson to find out how the railways transformed Hull into one of the world’s largest white-fish ports.
On the train to Bridlington, Michael shares his journey with climate expert John Pinnegar, who explains what’s really happening to North Sea cod stocks and how global warming is changing the kinds of fish found around Britain’s coast.
In Bradshaw’s time, Bridlington was transformed by the railways from a sleepy fishing village into a bustling seaside resort. Today, it’s changing again. Travelling with Frank Powell, Michael learns the sustainable way to fish for sea bass from a new wave of fishermen.
December 9, 2009
In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain. His name was George Bradshaw and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks. Michael Portillo continues his journeys to find out what remains of Bradshaw’s Britain.
On the last leg of his journey from Liverpool to Scarborough, Michael’s first stop is Flamborough Head. There he meets RSPB site manager Ian Kendall to find out what’s happened to the sea-bird populations in the area since Bradshaw’s time. Back then it was a popular destination for bird watchers and “climmers”, who scrambled down the cliffs to steal bird’s eggs. These days, it is home to Britain’s largest mainland colony of gannets. The cliffs are also home to England’s oldest chalk lighthouse, as well as a more “modern” one built in Bradshaw’s time which pioneered a new signalling system.
Along the coast in Filey, Michael meets local fisherman Jeremy Smith to discover why they still use traditional “coble” boats. These boats are unique to the area and were built to cope with the challenges of the coastline. Calling on expert knitter Margaret Taylor, Michael learns to decipher the traditional knitting patterns on Filey fishermen’s jumpers.
Finally, Michael arrives in Scarborough, the end of his journey. Scarborough became one of the most popular tourist destinations in Victorian times when the railways arrived. He pays a visit to field archaeologists Dr Nigel Melton and Janet Montgomery to hear about the latest research into “Gristhorpe man”. This 4,000-year-old skeleton was discovered in Bradshaw’s time and caused an immediate sensation, attracting crowds of Victorian visitors to Scarborough. Today, Michael finds out what kind of person Gristhorpe man was and what it was that killed him.
Michael also goes on a tour of one of the oldest and largest purpose-built hotels in Europe, the Scarborough Grand, a traditional Victorian hotel.