NaN/100 votesLoading...#1 - Liverpool to Eccles
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 1/4/2010
Ep1: Liverpool to Eccles. Michael begins his journey on the world's first passenger railway line, learns to speak Scouse in Liverpool, finds out about the first railway fatality and explores the origins of the Eccles cake.
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#2 - Manchester to Bury
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 1/5/2010
Michael is in Manchester to find out more about George Bradshaw himself. He also gets fitted for a trilby in Denton and learns how the railways helped to create a national institution - fish and chips.
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#3 - Todmorden to York
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 1/6/2010
Michael travels back in time on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, finds out about the latest Roman discoveries in York and takes to the air in the Network Rail helicopter.
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#4 - Pontefract to Bridlington
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 1/7/2010
Michael searches for the last liquorice grower in Pontefract, discovers how the railways turned Hull into one of the largest white fish ports in the world and goes fishing for sea bass in Bridlington.
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#5 - Filey to Scarborough
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 1/8/2010
Michael goes bird-watching on the wild cliffs of Flamborough Head, learns to decipher traditional knitting patterns in Filey and meets one of the oldest residents of the Victorian seaside resort of Scarborough - a 4000-year-old skeleton called Gristhorpe Man.
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#6 - Preston to Morecambe
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 1/11/2010
Michael explores the origins of the temperance movement in Preston, samples the attractions of Blackpool, a resort made by the railways, and takes a walk across Morecambe Bay with the official Keeper of the Sands.
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#7 - Settle to Garsdale
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 1/12/2010
Michael returns to the historic Settle-Carlisle line to find out what has happened to it since he helped save it in the 1980s. Along the way, he explores the magnificent Ribblehead viaduct, finds out about the navvies who helped to build it and catches a steam train along the line.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#8 - Windermere to Kendal
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 1/13/2010
Michael takes a steamboat tour of Lake Windermere, visits Wordsworth's home village of Grasmere and makes sausages with a local Herdwick sheep farmer.
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#9 - Carlisle to Glasgow
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 1/14/2010
Michael meets the wild clansmen of Carlisle, the Border Reivers, witnesses a wedding in Gretna Green and visits a secret World War One munitions factory.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#10 - Edinburgh to Kirkcaldy
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 1/15/2010
Michael makes apple juice in the Clyde valley orchards, pays a thrilling visit to the top of the Forth Rail Bridge and relives his childhood memories in his grandparents' home town of Kirkcaldy.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#11 - Swindon to Bristol
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/18/2010
Michael finds out about free holiday trains for the GWR workers in Swindon, samples the Spa in Bath, and tries his hand at glass blowing in Bristol.
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#12 - Yatton to Weston Super Mare
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/19/2010
Michael samples local Cheddar strawberries, explores Cheddar Gorge and the famous caves, and visits one of the oldest piers in the country at Weston Super Mare.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#13 - Torquay to Totnes
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/20/2010
Michael finds out about Torquay's micro climate, goes salmon fishing on the Dart estuary and spends some of Totnes' new local currency.
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#14 - Bugle to Mevagissey
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/21/2010
Michael visits the largest clay mine in the world near St Austell, goes pilchard fishing in Mevagissey and finds out how the estate of Heligan shaped British gardens.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#15 - Truro to Penzance
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/22/2010
Michael searches for the lost church of St Piran, explores the last working tin mine in Cornwall and harvests oysters on the Helford River.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#16 - Buxton to Matlock
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/25/2010
Michael visits an architectural wonder, the Duke of Devonshire's stables in Buxton, helps to repair the ancient peat landscape of the Peak District and travels on the historic steam railway to Rowsley.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#17 - Cromford to Burton-on-Trent
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/26/2010
Michael visits the oldest working factory in the world at Cromford, explores the country's first public park in Derby and finds out why Burton's beer is said to be the best.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#18 - Walsall to Bournville
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 1/27/2010
Michael meets the queen's saddler in Walsall, learns how to cook an authentic Indian curry in Birmingham and visits Bournville, rumoured to be the best place to live in Britain.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#19 - Coventry to Watford
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 1/28/2010
Michael relives the Coventry Blitz, meets the last pure breed Aylesbury duck farmer in Buckinghamshire and finds out how the trains helped to evacuate millions of children during World War II.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#20 - St Pancras to Westminster
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 1/29/2010
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of four epic journeys, he travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains. His journey takes him from Buxton along one of the first railway routes south to the capital, London. This time, Michael explores one of the grandest railway stations and hotels in the country: St Pancras. He rides the world's first tube line to Smithfield market and climbs up the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament to hear Big Ben chime.
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#21 - Brighton to Crystal Palace
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 1/3/2011
Brighton to Cromer - Ep 1. Brighton to Crystal Palace. Michael finds out about Brighton's Victorian aquarium, the largest in the world at the time; explores the underground quarries of Godstone, and discovers the wonders of the Crystal Palace in suburban south London.
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#22 - Waterloo to Canary Wharf
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 1/4/2011
Brighton to Cromer - Ep 2. Waterloo to Canary Wharf. Michael finds out about the Stiff's express, a funeral service running coffins from Waterloo to Brookwood cemetery. He discovers how London's west end became a great 19th century shopping destination and explores the changing fortunes of London's docks.
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#23 - Enfield to Cambridge
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 1/5/2011
Brighton to Cromer - Ep 3. Enfield to Cambridge. Michael visits the Government Arms Factory at Enfield, the largest machine shop in Europe in Bradshaw's day; discovers how the trains transformed Newmarket's races and finds out why Cambridge could be considered the birthplace of modern football.
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#24 - Ely to King's Lynn
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 1/6/2011
Brighton to Cromer - Ep 4. Ely to King's Lynn. Michael goes fishing with the last eel trapper on the Fens at Ely and visits one of the great triumphs of 19th century engineering, the Denver Sluice. He ends his journey in King's Lynn, where he uncovers an ambitious plan to reclaim the Wash in Bradshaw's day.
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#25 - Dereham to Cromer
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 1/7/2011
Brighton to Cromer - Ep 5. Dereham to Cromer. Michael gets the rare chance to drive a heritage diesel train, finds out why Norfolk black turkeys appeared on the Christmas menu in Bradshaw's day, and samples some classic Cromer crab.
Director: N/A
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The Best Episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Every episode of Great British Railway Journeys ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Great British Railway Journeys!
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to...
Genre:Documentary
Network:BBC Two
Best Episodes Summary
"Liverpool to Eccles" is the best rated episode of "Great British Railway Journeys". It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 1/4/2010. This episode scored NaN points higher than the second highest rated, "Manchester to Bury".