Great Coastal Railway Journeys: Barry Island to Pyle (BBC Four Monday 18 September 2023)

Great Coastal Railway Journeys: Barry Island to Pyle airs Monday 18 September 2023 on BBC Four.

What is this episode about

Michael Portillo visits the busy docks of Barry Island as part of his coastal railway journey through south Wales. Navigating the waters upstream of the Barry Island Peninsula can be challenging due to the presence of the world’s second highest tides. Michael rides shotgun with a Bristol pilot as they lead a feeder container ship into port. Michael watches in apprehension as the pilot disembarks from the cutter and climbs a ladder to the ship’s bridge.

Michael meets a young girl with a major claim to fame on the Jurassic coast and learns how her groundbreaking discovery on the beach at Barry rocked the palaeontology world.

Michael gets off near Llantwit Major on the Glamorgan Heritage Coast so he can see St. Donat’s Castle. It has been continuously inhabited since the 12th century, and today it is home to a school whose alumni have left their mark on the maritime world. Michael participates in a “man overboard” drill with the rest of the lifeboat crew.

Michael travels from Pyle to the charming seaside town of Porthcawl, where he discovers an unlikely transatlantic alliance between a black American polymath with a well-known deep baritone voice and a choir of Welsh miners. Michael hears the Treorchy Male Choir perform and learns about Paul Robeson’s friendship with them at the town’s Grand Pavilion.

Series 1 Episode 22 of 25

When can we see the episode

Great Coastal Railway Journeys: Barry Island to Pyle airs Monday 18 September 2023 at 7:00pm on BBC Four

Featured Image Credit: BBC Four