Great Coastal Railway Journeys S03 E16-E20 (1080p, soft English subtitles)

All aboard! Weaving through charming seaside towns, historic landmarks and natural wonders, Michael Portillo explores the coastal communities the railways made.

E16
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 and generations of Essex men and women have struggled to stay on dry land. From Benfleet, Michael heads for the tidal mud flats and salt marshes of the Dengie National Nature Reserve, where he discovers one of the oldest Christian churches in England, the chapel of St Peter’s on the Wall, built in 654. The picturesque seaside town of Walton-on-the-Naze is Michael’s next stop, where he is charmed by the colourful beach huts lining the seafront. Walking on Walton’s impressive pier, Michael meets a group of anglers waiting for a bite. He enjoys a tale of a fish that got away and a recipe for local bass. His last stop on this leg is Wrabness, where Michael visits the extraordinary House for Essex, a collaboration between Essex artist Grayson Perry and Essex architect Charles Holland.

E17
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 sea scouts. Wren is a 12-year-old stallion who is an endangered breed now protected by the Suffolk Punch Trust. With a little help from his trainer, Michael picks up the lines to put him through his paces. At Thorpeness, Michael discovers Britain’s first purpose-built seaside village, a dream resort for early 20th-century middle-class holidaymakers, with a golf course, a boating lake and a fairy-tale cottage. The Walberswick ferrywoman conveys Michael across the River Blythe to Southwold, a seaside town with a lighthouse. Inside the Adnams brewery, Michael learns how local barley is malted and fermented, and that varieties of hops have complex flavours.

E18
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 meets a diving duo who set out to find the wreck of a ship carrying a future king, which sank 340 years ago. Michael visits the most easterly town in Britain, Lowestoft. It’s the southern gateway to the network of lakes and rivers known as the Broads and home to the International Boat Building Training College. At Lound Lakes, Michael joins the warden of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s 280-acre nature reserve, which is teeming with wildlife, including kingfishers, otters, breeding warblers and 28 species of butterfly. From the holiday resort of Great Yarmouth, built on a sandbank which in Roman times lay under the sea, Michael makes his way to the enormous and impressive Burgh Castle Roman Fort.

E19
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 in the creature’s leg, an enormous shin bone, and imagines its size, twice that of a modern elephant. Michael samples the local crab at Sheringham before heading to the North Norfolk Railway, which once brought holidaymakers to the seaside and today operates as a heritage line. From Weybourne, Michael heads to Cley next the Sea to visit one of the country’s oldest nature reserves. The stunning salt marsh landscape is full of surprises, among them samphire, which locals forage. In the village of Burnham Market, Michael joins a Norfolk-born chef at his fish and seafood restaurant to learn how to prepare it professionally.

E20
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 and Walsingham line. This narrow-gauge heritage service takes him through the heart of the glorious north Norfolk countryside and delivers him to Wells-Next-the-Sea, from where he heads to the magnificent Holkham Hall. From Watlington, Michael makes his way to one of the largest seal rehabilitation centres in the country, run by the RSPCA at East Winch. Meanwhile, the historic town of King’s Lynn with its port on the River Ouse has enjoyed a proud maritime past and its beautifully preserved centre impresses Michael. At first light, Michael arrives on the Wash at Snettisham amid a stunning landscape of sandbanks, salt marshes and lagoons, where the RSPB manages a nature reserve. Michael joins the site manager and other twitchers to witness a spectacular natural event.

First broadcast: April 2024  
Duration:  30 minutes per episode    
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