Great British Railway Journeys: Season 8, Episode 4

8 - 4: Darlington to Dunbar

Michael Portillo continues his journey from London to Edinburgh at a leisurely pace up the East Coast Main Line. In Newton Aycliffe, he tests a state-of-the-art passenger train on tracks which follow the route taken by George Stephenson's steam engine on its historic journey in 1825. Through the looking glass at Croft-on-Tees he discovers a curious potion at the childhood home of Victorian writer Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, and finds the author was also a fan of Bradshaw. In the coastal village of Craster, Michael discovers the Victorian smokehouses of a family firm still active today and learns how to smoke a kipper. Crossing the Scottish border he reaches Dunbar, birthplace of a visionary Scot who made his mark on the landscape of America. Michael ends this leg rocking the boat on the River Tyne in a coracle.