Great British Railway Journeys S13E08 · Hampstead to Islington

Overview

Michael’s Bradshaw’s-inspired rail tour of London continues in Hampstead, where shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, a groundbreaking Jewish doctor found refuge. Sigmund Freud fled the Austrian capital of Vienna by train to escape the Nazis, who branded his work degenerate. Michael hears how the father of psychoanalysis was warmly welcomed in London and sees the famous couch, upon which patients would lie to recount their dreams. In St John’s Wood, Michael discovers how Britain went on record between the wars at the Abbey Road Studios. He is amazed by the cavernous space in which Sir Edward Elgar and the London Symphony Orchestra played at the grand opening ceremony in 1931, and he's awed by the list of famous names to follow their lead, topped by the Beatles, who immortalised Abbey Road on an album cover. A young violinist brings Studio 2 to life with a tribute to Elgar.

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Episodes

1. 1 1. Biggin Hill to Ashdown Forest2021-05-17 · 30mMichael Portillo experiences a terrifying ‘victory roll’ in a World War II Spitfire, high above the most famous aerodrome of the Battle of Britain, Biggin Hill. The 80-year-old air
2. 2 2. Hassocks to Benenden2021-05-18 · 30mStarting in Hassocks, Michael makes his way to the beautiful Sussex village of Ditchling, where, between the wars, a Roman Catholic community of artists made their home. Michael fi
3. 3 3. Rye to Dungeness2021-05-19 · 30mMichael Portillo follows his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide to the unspoilt East Sussex port of Rye, where he learns about the loss of a generation of lifeboatmen in 1928 and explores a wa
4. 4 4. Deal to Margate2021-05-20 · 30mFrom the Kent Cinque Port of Deal, Michael heads to the splendid Walmer Castle, home during the 1920s to a Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lord Beauchamp. Michael’s guide, the fou
5. 5 5. Herne Bay to Leeds Castle, Kent2021-05-21 · 30mArmed with his interwar copy of Bradshaw’s Guide to the Railways, Michael reaches the Kent seaside resort of Herne Bay, where he learns about a pioneering aviatrix who began her wo
6. 6 6. Chislehurst to Kennington2021-05-24 · 30mMichael continues his journeys in greater London. Beginning on its southeastern fringe in the leafy and historic village of Chislehurst, Michael finds surprising imperial connectio
7. 7 7. Hackney Wick to Oxford Circus2021-05-25 · 30mMichael continues his travels through the capital in the heart of London’s East End. Michael explores Hackney Wick, today transformed from the time of his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide, w
8. 8 8. Hampstead to Islington2021-05-26 · 30mMichael’s Bradshaw’s-inspired rail tour of London continues in Hampstead, where shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, a groundbreaking Jewish doctor found refuge. Si
9. 9 9. Dagenham to Battersea2021-05-27 · 30mArmed with his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide, Michael is in London, where he tracks the River Thames from east to west. Michael is drawn to the industrial eastern suburb by the unexpected
10. 10 10. Park Royal to Westminster2021-05-29 · 30mMichael Portillo discovers the origins of Harry Beck's map of the London Underground, learns about a shocking surrealist show in 1930s Piccadilly and explores the headquarters of C