Great Coastal Railway Journeys S02 complete (proper) (1280x720p HD, 50fps, soft Eng subs)  

[I uploaded a similarly-titled torrent before but it was only the first ten episodes - this torrents contains all 20]

Michael Portillo embarks on railway adventures around the coasts of the British Isles.

E01 Douglas to Port Erin
Michael Portillo embarks on another railway adventure across and beyond the United Kingdom, beginning on the self-governing Isle of Man – a paradise for rail lovers. He visits the Isle's ancient parliament, the Tynwald, which is older than Westminster, is taken down the east coast on the Isle of Man Steam Railway to the Norse castle of Rushen, test-drives the smallest production car ever made in Peel, joins a working fishing boat at Port St Mary, and meets two passionate advocates of the Manx language.


E02 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. At the International Slavery Museum in Royal Albert Dock, he reflects on the city’s part in the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. He takes Merseyrail to Birkenhead, where he inspects a German U-boat before seeing the underground room where the Battle of the Atlantic was monitored and controlled. In Crosby, he encounters dozens of west-facing iron men before heading off to Blackpool, where he learns about the city's wartime experiences.

E03 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 is made. At Arnside, he visits a quirky 17th-century garden at Levens Hall, helping to clip its vast topiaries into shape. Across the Arnside viaduct, Michael reaches Cartmel, with its 12th-century priory and Michelin-starred restaurant.

E04 Ulverston to Ravenglass
Michael Portillo is in Cumbria, enjoying one of the most spectacular coastal railway journeys in Britain. In Ulverston, he sets sail in a small craft with a lifelong devotee of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons. At Barrow-in-Furness, Michael investigates the mountains of scrap left behind as iron ore was turned into ships, trains and railway tracks. From Silecroft, Michael hikes up Black Combe to join a champion endurance athlete as she navigates and runs across the fells. Pressing north, he reaches the delightful Ravenglass and Eskdale heritage railway.

E05 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. In 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. Michael 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.

E06 Middlesbrough to Boulby
Michael Portillo’s coastal railway adventure propels him in search of the unknown universe in Boulby, North Yorkshire. Over a kilometre below the surface of the earth, in the deepest mine in Britain, Michael joins the hunt for dark matter. At Redcar, a racing legend tells Michael his incredible story. The champion jockey, who was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, describes his glittering comeback. Middlesbrough’s iconic blue Transporter Bridge offers Michael fabulous high views over the Tees estuary and the Cleveland Hills. The pride of Teessiders in their most famous landmark is clear, and Michael is fascinated by the wild natural landscape reclaimed from the industry around it. At Saltholme, Michael joins the RSPB in a hide to observe a visiting bird of prey.

E07 Whitby to Robin Hood's Bay
Michael Portillo continues his railway adventure at Whitby, where he explores the port’s shipbuilding and seafaring heritage. In Grosmont, Michael boards the first steam locomotive built in Britain since the 1960s. In the vast open landscape of the North York Moors, Michael discovers one of the most powerful military radars in the world - where tension rises as the team suspect a missile launch. Robin Hood’s Bay’s murky past as a smuggling haven leads Michael down a dark tunnel to discover how contraband gin, brandy and tea was landed and why the illicit trade flourished in the 18th century.

E08 Scarborough to Bridlington
Michael Portillo is in the seaside resort of Scarborough to explore one of the greatest royal fortresses in England, before heading to the beautiful neoclassical Rotunda Museum, one of the world’s first purpose-built museums. At Bempton Cliffs in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Michael join forces with Humberside Police in an unusual patrol vehicle. And in the lobster capital of Europe, Bridlington, he visits the Yorkshire Marine Research Centre to find out how they aim to keep stocks of the crustaceans healthy.

E09 Hornsea to Spurn Point
Michael Portillo continues his journey in the pretty seaside resort of Hornsea, famous for its distinctive pottery. In Hull, he discovers how one of Hull FC’s star players made history as Britain’s first black rugby captain. From Hull, Michael hitches a ride on a fine-looking barge heading to Goole on a network of canals. At Spurn Point, Michael hears how along this coast an ingenious 19th-century RNLI invention saved many lives. And aboard the Pride of the Humber, the biggest all-weather lifeboat in the fleet, Michael is permitted to take the helm.

E10 Grimsby to Humberston Fitties
Michael Portillo has reached Lincolnshire, where his coastal railway journey from Middlesbrough ends. In Grimsby, he investigates an important new stage in the town’s history - as a maintenance base for some of the largest wind farms in the world.
In neighbouring Cleethorpes, Michael is excited to ride on the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway, pulled by a miniature steam locomotive, and on the shores of the mighty Humber estuary, Michael meets the Humber King, who holds the record for swimming across the Humber. From Cleethorpes, Michael makes for a curious and wild stretch of coastline at Humberston. At Young’s, he learns how half of all scampi produced in the UK is made – and tries it himself.

E11 Ballarena to Giant's Causeway
Michael Portillo is on Northern Ireland’s spectacular Causeway Coast to begin a railway journey that takes him along the north and east coasts of Ireland through the provinces of Ulster and Leinster. Beginning on the windswept shores of Loch Foyle, he investigates the 17th-century origins of Ireland's sectarian divide, braves choppy seas to join an archaeological expedition, meets local teenagers learning about their costal home, and surveys the spectacular basalt landscape of the Giant’s Causeway.

E12 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. At the entrance to Belfast Lough, in Whitehead, he discovers a glorious museum, which tells the story of Ireland’s railway heritage. Meanwhile, on the seafront, Michael joins a crew belonging to the Whitehead Coastal Rowing Club as they prepare to race. At the medieval Carrickfergus Castle, Michael learns of the town’s important role in the history of Ireland, when William of Orange landed at its harbour and went on to fight the Battle of the Boyne.

E13 Bangor to Belfast
Michael Portillo is in Bangor, County Down, en route to the Northern Irish capital, Belfast. Admiring the handsome waterfront houses, he recalls the resort’s prosperity after the railways arrived and learns how local groups are launching a cultural revival. He finds out about the history of Stormont and the Good Friday Agreement, explores the regenerated waterfront on the Maritime Mile, visits the largest coastal inlet in the British Isles, and discovers a scheme to generate power with a tidal kite.

E14 Carlingford to Dublin
Michael Portillo continues his railway journey along the Atlantic and Irish Sea coasts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. From Newry, he sets off to cross the border into the Republic. On the Carlingford Peninsula, he helps turn and shake 70,000 bags of Pacific oysters. At Newgrange, Michael is blown away by the ancient, acre-sized cairn and his guide’s explanation of what happens inside. Michael visits Dublin Castle, from where Ireland was once ruled by Britain, and meets the grandson of Irish revolutionary Eamon De Valera. At Dublin's docks, he finds out how investment in the tech sector has transformed the Irish economy.

E15 Dun Laoghaire to Rosslare
Michael Portillo begins the final leg of his railway journey, beginning in the harbour town of Dun Laoghaire. He joins a crew of geological surveyors to discover what lies beneath Dublin Bay. In Sandycove, he meets James Joyce devotees in the town where the author found inspiration. At New Ross, he sees a replica of a ship that took emigrants to America during and after the Irish Famine. At the Kennedy Homestead in Dunganstown, Michael meets JFK’s great-great-great-nephew, and at Rosslare, Michael discovers how business is booming in Ireland’s closest ferry port to France.

E16 Weymouth to Lulworth
Michael is on a rail journey across the southern coast of England, beginning in Dorset. In Portland Harbour, Michael takes to the water with four-time Paralympian Hannah Stodel. After a quick stop on the distinctive 18-mile-long Chesil Beach, Michael makes his way to Abbotsbury Swannery to take in the amazing sight of their 800-strong colony of mute swans. In the county town of Dorchester, Michael hears the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, who paved the way for today’s trade unions. Finally, he visits the ghostly village of Tyneham, whose residents were ordered by the British Army to evacuate temporarily just days before Christmas in 1943 but never returned.
E17 Kimmeridge to Brownsea Island
Michael alights at Wareham to visit Dorset’s internationally renowned Jurassic Coast. Exploring the geology, he discovers black gold locked into its rocks and visits one of the county’s oldest oil fields. In Swanage, Michael visits the pretty Victorian harbour before riding the magnificent Swanage heritage railway to Corfe Castle, the location for one of the most dramatic hilltop castle ruins in the country. In Poole, at one of Dorset’s biggest employers, handmade cosmetics maker Lush, Michael is introduced to a phenomenon entirely new to him, the bath bomb. Heading back to the sea, Michael takes a stroll along the beach at Sandbanks, reputedly the home of the nation's most expensive coastal real estate, with local resident Harry Redknapp. Michael ends his journey on Brownsea Island. He learns of Mary Bonham-Christie, a controversial conservationist who rid the island of almost all its human residents to create a protected habitat for wildlife - which today includes the red squirrel.

E18 Southampton to Isle of Wight
Michael is in Southampton, one of the busiest ports on the south coast of England and home to the National Oceanography Centre. From the port, Michael takes a ferry to the Isle of Wight, where he rides the island’s railway, made up of recycled London Underground trains. In the island’s hinterland, he discovers a highly specialised farm which produces up to 15 different types of garlic and hears of a daring wartime mission behind enemy lines to procure this pungent plant. Finally, Michael reaches the Needles, the island's iconic chalk stacks where a top-secret Cold War operation took place to develop and test British space rockets.

E19 Lee-on-the-Solent to Bosham
Michael’s journey has brought him to Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, the coastguard's training centre. He finds out about their role in search and rescue and helps in one of their highly skilled operations: a mud rescue. Michael’s next stop on his coastal travels is the great maritime city of Portsmouth to meet the harbour master, whose office oversees more than 200,000 maritime movements through the port each year. From Portsmouth, Michael travels eastwards to Chichester’s vast natural harbour and learns about a conservation project reversing coastal erosion and providing yummy treats for both local and not-so-local wildlife.

E20  Fishbourne to Seaford
The final leg of Michael's journey begins in Fishbourne, the location of one of the most significant Roman sites in Britain. Heading into East Sussex, he makes for a British resort synonymous with seaside jaunts, Brighton. Michael celebrates the burgeoning winemaking industry of the South Downs, visiting one of the area’s largest vineyards. He toasts the future of British wine having got to the end of his coastal travels.

First broadcast:  June 2023  
Duration:  30 minutes per episode  

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