Great Coastal Railway Journeys: Season 3, Episode 6

3 - 6: Cardigan Bay to Abergynolwyn

Michael Portillo embarks on a railway journey around the ragged rocks of the western coast of Wales. He begins on the Victorian Cliff Railway at Aberystwyth, rising above the historic town to take in views over Cardigan Bay, home to the largest population of bottlenose dolphins in Europe.

On the beach at Borth, Michael discovers a petrified forest, part of a lost realm which was much mythologised in Wales during the Middle Ages. In Machynlleth in Powys, Michael visits the site of Wales's medieval national parliament and the charismatic hero who nearly achieved Welsh independence from England in the early 15th century.

Back on the coast in the seaside resort of Tywyn, Michael finishes this leg of his journey with a glorious ride aboard the first preserved heritage railway in the world, the Talyllyn, from Tywyn to Abergynolwyn.