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EPISODES · BBC IPLAYER
Season 16 · Episodes 11–15
Landed Mon, 21 Apr 2025 · 01:00 your time · 5 episodes · 2h 20m
Season 16, Episodes 11–15 of Great British Railway Journeys aired Monday, 21 April 2025 at 6am UK time on BBC iPlayer.
- S16E11Shrewsbury to TelfordMichael Portillo re-enacts the Battle of Shrewsbury, explores the town's beautiful Gothic cathedral and rides the Telford Steam Railway's flagship locomotive.
- S16E12Ironbridge to CoseleyMichael Portillo is in Ironbridge Gorge on the River Severn, a hotbed of 18th-century innovation which features the world's first coke blast iron furnace
- S16E13Dudley to West BromwichMichael Portillo boards a barge on the Dudley Canal, discovers an ancient seabed and explores racial tension in 1960s Smethwick.
- S16E14Birmingham New Street to WednesburyArriving in Birmingham, Michael Portillo heads to Curzon Street for a tour of the HS2 terminus still under construction. In the Newtown area, he visits the oldest private manufacturing firm in the UK.
- S16E15Solihull to Birmingham InternationalOn the final leg of his Midlands tour, Michael Portillo travels to Solihull, the home of iconic British brand Land Rover. Later, he visits the childhood neighbourhood of JRR Tolkien.
NEXT IN SEASON 16
Episodes 16–20 · season finale
Mon 28 Apr · 01:00

Great British Railway Journeys
16 seasons · 290 episodes · airing
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