← Great British Railway Journeys · Series 14

Wakefield to Leeds

S14 · E4 · 22 Jun 2023 · 28 min

From Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Michael visits the National Coal Mining Museum for England at Caphouse Colliery. He pauses to admire the tall spire of Wakefield Cathedral and its resident peregrine falcons before heading to the banks of the River Calder. In a vast factory, he finds the headquarters of a shirt manufacturer, Double Two, a pioneering wartime business co-founded by a Jewish refugee from Austria. In Leeds, Michael heads for the Chapeltown area to investigate the origins of the Leeds West Indian Carnival in 1967 and try his hand on the steel drums. In the city's Harehills district, he admires the back-to-back houses once condemned as slums but now highly prized for their character and community.

Directing

Anthony Holland · Director

Production

John Comerford · Executive Producer

Editing

Alison Kreps · Editor

Crew

Michael Portillo · Presenter