Great British Railway Journeys: Middlesbrough to Hexham

SYNOPSIS

Michael Portillo begins the fourth leg of his journey from Derby to Lindisfarne in Middlesbrough, visiting one of the last iron foundries in the town and helping cast a carrot valve for a steam engine. His next stop is Darlington, Co Durham, where he meets the editor of the Northern Echo and finds out about the colourful history of WT Stead, one of his predecessors. Michael then heads to St Paul's monastery in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, to learn about 8th-century monk the Venerable Bede, known as `the father of English history', before finishing in Hexham, Northumberland, where he visits a historic ginger beer emporium.