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Epping to Hackney

Michael Portillo sees how gunpowder made in Waltham Cross fuelled an empire and heads to Hackney to uncover the gruesome details of the first murder on a train.

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In a series of five epic journeys, Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what remains of Bradshaw's Britain.

Following the route of the Great Eastern Line, which ventures from the edge of East Anglia to the centre of the country's financial capital, London, Michael visits Essex to discover why dairy herds travelled there by rail from all over the country in the 19th century. He also visits Waltham Cross to see how the gunpowder made there fuelled the building of an empire and heads to Hackney to uncover the gruesome details of the first murder on a train.

30 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Michael Portillo
Series Producer Jay Taylor
Executive Producer John Comerford

Broadcasts

Steam railway programmes on 大象传媒 iPlayer

A collection of programmes from the 大象传媒 archives on the beauty of steam locomotives.