Solihull to Birmingham International
On the final leg of his Midlands tour, Michael Portillo travels to Solihull, the home of iconic British brand Land Rover. Later, he visits the childhood neighbourhood of JRR Tolkien.
On the final leg of his Midlands tour, Michael Portillo travels to Solihull, the home of iconic British brand Land Rover. He discovers that their factory, now owned by Indian Tata Motors, produced the first Land Rover model in the 1940s. Michael gets to put a modern Range Rover through its paces in a hair-raising off-road experience.
Just south of the city, in Hall Green, he visits the childhood neighbourhood of legendary author JRR Tolkien. He learns how the peaceful rural setting of Sarehole Mill provided inspiration for the fantasy world of Middle Earth in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Michael finishes his tour at Britain’s first electric-only freight train operator, based at Birmingham International Station. He’s surprised to see how passenger trains that were new when he was minister for transport in the 1980s are now being used to carry parcels from Birmingham to Scotland.
On TV
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Michael Portillo |
| Director | Mike Arnott |
| Executive Producer | John Comerford |
| Executive Producer | Alison Kreps |
| Production Company | Fremantle |
Broadcast
- Today 18:30
Steam railway programmes on BBC iPlayer
A collection of programmes from the BBC archives on the beauty of steam locomotives.