Michael Portillo fast tracks to the early 20th century to embark on a new series of railway journeys through Edwardian Britain. His ‘new’ guide book, published over a hundred years ago, unlocks Britain’s railways at their zenith, when some 20,000 miles of track reached into every corner of the country. Michael navigates a vibrant and optimistic Britain, at the height of its power and influence in the world, but a nation wrestling with political, social and industrial unrest at home.

Part 12: York to Frizinghall
Armed with his Edwardian Bradshaw’s guide, Michael Portillo conducts important research in an historic tea room, built by an Edwardian immigrant to the city of York. Research of a more sombre kind leads Michael to the roots of our modern welfare state in the work of an early 20th-century Quaker investigator, whose family manufactured chocolate.

Next stop is Leeds, where Michael discovers the city’s textile heritage, which relied in Edwardian times on a group of skilled Jewish immigrants to take it forward. Michael learns how some of the big names built their empires in Leeds and measures up to a footballing legend. At Bradford Grammar School, Michael hears the story of a talented Edwardian student who became a famous composer and enjoys one of his works, sung by a music pupil of today.