大象传媒

Michael Portillo continues his south Wales coastal railway journey in Barry Island, where he investigates 'what鈥檚 occurring' at the busy docks. The waters upstream of the Barry Island Peninsula are tricky to navigate, and the tides are the second highest in the world. Michael joins a Bristol pilot on his way to help guide a feeder container ship into port, watching with trepidation as the pilot transfers from the cutter to shin up a ladder to the ship鈥檚 bridge.

On the Jurassic shoreline, Michael meets a young girl with a big claim to fame and hears how her internationally significant discovery on the beach at Barry shook the palaeontology community.

Skirting the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Michael alights at Llantwit Major to visit St Donat鈥檚 Castle. Continuously occupied since the 12th century, it鈥檚 now home to a school whose students have made an important nautical mark. Michael joins their lifeboat crew for a 'man overboard' drill.

From Pyle, Michael reaches the pretty seaside resort of Porthcawl, where he finds an unexpected transatlantic alliance between a black American polymath, famous for his deep baritone voice, and a choir of Welsh miners. At the town鈥檚 Grand Pavilion, Michael hears the story of Paul Robeson鈥檚 friendship with the Treorchy Male Choir and listens to them sing.