Great British Railway Journeys
Season 5 Episode 18 - Ilford to Rochester
Steered by his Bradshaw's, Michael Portillo heads along the Essex bank of the Thames before crossing the river into the Garden of England, Kent. He begins this leg at Barkingside, where a Victorian philanthropist called Dr Thomas Barnardo made it his life's work to transform the lives of destitute children. From Upminster Michael takes the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway to Tilbury and finds out how the line and the old station transformed the town into one of the country's most important ports. At the docks, Michael tries his hand at loading a container on to a pocket wagon. Over the river at Gravesend Michael discovers how one of Queen Victoria's favourite army officers, General Gordon, left his mark on the town. Michael's last destination on this leg is Rochester, where he encounters a host of familiar characters and explores the city which was home to one of the Victorian era's greatest writers, Charles Dickens.
Episodes in Season 5
Manchester to Birkenhead
30 min
Southport to Leyland
30 min
Preston to Rochdale
30 min
Haworth to Huddersfield
30 min
Honley to Chesterfield
30 min
London Euston to Cheddington
30 min
Bletchley to Newport Pagnell
30 min
Northampton to Nuneaton
30 min
Leicester to Loughborough
30 min
Nottingham to Leeds
30 min
Southampton to Basingstoke
30 min
Winchfield to Crowthorne
30 min
Wokingham to Bradford-on-Avon
30 min
Chippenham to Gloucester
30 min
Cheltenham to Wolverhampton
30 min
Norwich to Brandon
30 min
Ipswich to Chelmsford
30 min
Ilford to Rochester
30 min
Faversham to Dorking
30 min
Brighton to Chichester
30 min
