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The Worst Episodes of Great British Railway Journeys

Every episode of Great British Railway Journeys ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Great British Railway Journeys!

The Worst 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...
  1. Background image for Windermere to Kendal
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    #1 - Windermere to Kendal

    S1:E8

    Michael takes a steamboat tour of Lake Windermere, visits Wordsworth's home village of Grasmere and makes sausages with a local Herdwick sheep farmer.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  2. Background image for Truro to Penzance
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    #2 - Truro to Penzance

    S1:E15

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  3. Background image for Coventry to Watford
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    #3 - Coventry to Watford

    S1:E19

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  4. Background image for St Pancras to Westminster
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    #4 - St Pancras to Westminster

    S1:E20

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  5. Background image for Brighton to Crystal Palace
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    #5 - Brighton to Crystal Palace

    S2:E1

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  6. Background image for Waterloo to Canary Wharf
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    #6 - Waterloo to Canary Wharf

    S2:E2

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  8. Background image for Enfield to Cambridge
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    #7 - Enfield to Cambridge

    S2:E3

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  9. Background image for Ely to King's Lynn
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    #8 - Ely to King's Lynn

    S2:E4

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  10. Background image for Dereham to Cromer
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    #9 - Dereham to Cromer

    S2:E5

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  11. Background image for Ledbury to Shrewsbury
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    #10 - Ledbury to Shrewsbury

    S2:E6

    Ledbury to Holyhead - Ep 6. Ledbury to Shrewsbury. Michael tastes the Victorian drink perry, a kind of pear cider, gets up close and personal with a pedigree Hereford bull and visits the grandfather of all skyscrapers, the world's first iron-framed building in Shrewsbury.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  12. Background image for Telford to Wrexham
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    #11 - Telford to Wrexham

    S2:E7

    Ledbury to Holyhead - Ep 7. Telford to Wrexham. Michael visits the world's first Iron bridge at Coalbrookdale, explores the historic Chirk castle and has a go at making traditional Cheshire cheese.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  13. Background image for Chester to Conwy
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    #12 - Chester to Conwy

    S2:E8

    Ledbury to Holyhead - Ep 8. Chester to Conwy. Michael takes a tour of Chester's Roman remains and discovers a secret World War II chemical weapons plant at Rhydmwyn. After spending the night in Llandudno, he goes mussel fishing on the beautiful Conwy estuary.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  14. Background image for Llanwst to Porthmadog
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    #13 - Llanwst to Porthmadog

    S2:E9

    Ledbury to Holyhead - Ep 9. Llanwst to Porthmadog. Michael explores the Conwy valley, stopping at Britain's first artists' colony at Betwys-y-Coed, visiting the Victorian slate capital of Blaenau Ffestiniog and taking a steam train down to the harbour at Porthmadog.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  15. Background image for Newcastle to Chester-le-Street
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    #14 - Newcastle to Chester-le-Street

    S2:E11

    Newcastle to Melton Mowbray - Ep 11. Newcastle to Chester-Le-Street. Michael visits the first locomotive factory in the world opened by George Stephenson, searches for the lost pit village of Marsden in South Shields, and is entertained by a comic troupe of rapper sword dancers in Chester-le-Street.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  16. Background image for Durham to Grosmont
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    #15 - Durham to Grosmont

    S2:E12

    Newcastle to Melton Mowbray - Ep 12. Durham to Grosmont. Michael visits the historic Durham Cathedral, sees one of the first locomotives in Darlington and takes a Dracula tour in Whitby, before ending his journey on a steam train across the North Yorkshire Moors.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  17. Background image for York to Saltaire
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    #16 - York to Saltaire

    S2:E13

    Newcastle to Melton Mowbray - Ep 13. York to Saltaire. Michael takes a Turkish bath in the famous spa town of Harrogate, explores the exemplary Victorian village of Saltaire, and rubs noses with some friendly alpacas, whose fleeces made fortunes in Bradshaw's day.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  18. Background image for Batley to Sheffield
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    #17 - Batley to Sheffield

    S2:E14

    Newcastle to Melton Mowbray - Ep 14. Batley to Sheffield. Michael finds out about shoddy, a successful 19th-century recycling industry in the textile town of Batley, discovers how the railways boosted Yorkshire's forced rhubarb trade, and meets the great-great-granddaughter of George Bradshaw himself.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  19. Background image for Langley Mill to Melton Mowbray
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    #18 - Langley Mill to Melton Mowbray

    S2:E15

    Newcastle to Melton Mowbray - Ep 15. Langley Mill to Melton Mowbray. Michael learns the secrets of stilton cheese, finds out how trains transformed the traditional British sport of fox hunting and attempts to make an authentic Melton Mowbray pork pie.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  20. Background image for London Bridge to Chatham
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    #19 - London Bridge to Chatham

    S2:E16

    London Bridge to Hastings - Ep 16. London Bridge to Chatham. Michael visits the Royal Observatory at Greenwich to see how the railways standardised time, takes a walk through the world's first underwater tunnel at Rotherhithe and explores the historic Dockyards at Chatham.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  21. Background image for Aylesford to Tunbridge Wells
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    #20 - Aylesford to Tunbridge Wells

    S2:E17

    London Bridge to Hastings - Ep 17. Aylesford to Tonbridge Wells. Michael explores the life of Victorian hop pickers, finds out about Maidstone's revolutionary paper industry and discovers how the railways turned cricket into a national sport.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  22. Background image for Canterbury to Margate
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    #21 - Canterbury to Margate

    S2:E18

    London Bridge to Hastings - Ep 18. Canterbury to Margate. Michael finds out how Canterbury Cathedral was saved during the Baedeker raids of World War II, goes whelk fishing in Whitstable and explores the origins of a seaside swim in Margate.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  23. Background image for Sandwich to Folkestone
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    #22 - Sandwich to Folkestone

    S2:E19

    London Bridge to Hastings - Ep 19. Sandwich to Folkestone. Michael explores a secret port that ran the first train ferries to France carrying vital supplies during World War I, visits Walmer castle, the home of the Duke of Wellington and discovers how the Victorians initiated the building of the Channel tunnel.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  24. Background image for Hythe to Hastings
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    #23 - Hythe to Hastings

    S2:E20

    London Bridge to Hastings - Ep 20. Hythe to Hastings. Michael discovers a hardy breed of sheep on the atmospheric Romney Marsh, explores Kent's new sparkling wine industry and finds out why the Victorians went mad for ferns in Hastings.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  25. Background image for Ayr to Paisley
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    #24 - Ayr to Paisley

    S2:E21

    This journey goes up the west coast of Scotland from Ayr to Skye Ep21. Ayr to Paisley. Michael visits the hometown of Robbie Burns and finds out how to make haggis, discovers how the railways transformed the game of golf in Prestwick, and uncovers the story of the great Victorian tartan hoax in Paisley.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  26. Background image for Dumbarton to Tyndrum
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    #25 - Dumbarton to Tyndrum

    S2:E22

    This journey goes up the west coast of Scotland from Ayr to Skye Ep22. Dumbarton to Tyndrum. Michael explores the historic Dumbarton shipyards that built the Cutty Sark, visits one of Queen Victoria's favourite haunts, Loch Lomond, and goes hunting for gold in Scotland's mountains.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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Worst Episodes Summary

"Windermere to Kendal" is the worst rated episode of "Great British Railway Journeys". It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 1/13/2010. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Truro to Penzance".