Great Victorian Railway Journeys

Book excerpt: A glorious insight into Britain over the last 150 years . its history, landscape and people . from the window of Britain.s many and magnificent railway journeys. Great British Railway Journeys has been a hugely successful TV programme. Michael Portillo undertakes five unique journeys that were constructed by the Victorians from 1830-1900. This book shows how the modern British landscape was created from this Victorian legacy. From Windsor to Weymouth, Great Yarmouth to London, Oxford to Milford Haven, Berwick to Barrow, and finally Dublin to Belfast -- Michael will go back in time to showcase areas of outstanding Victorian engineering and design across Queen Victoria's dominions. This book showcase how the world's very first fixed-track train in Merthyr Tydfil operated; how the world's first electric train service ran in Southend to its famous pier; and he also celebrates the wide variety of lines that opened up trade and mobility to the Victorian classes. Travelling on a variety of existing, and in some cases restored, Victorian train lines, he meets their passionate supporters who lovingly work on them, and also looks at the modern landscape to tell the story of how each area was shaped by their Victorian forebears.