Dudley to West Bromwich

Michael Portillo boards a barge on the Dudley Canal, built in 1775 as a vital transport link for the town’s coal and limestone mines. Travelling through the second-longest navigable tunnel in the UK, he marvels at the beauty of a vast cave known as the Singing Cavern.

At nearby Wren’s Nest, a former limestone quarry that's now part of Unesco's Black Country Geopark, Michael discovers an ancient seabed where over 650 sea fossils have been found. He is introduced to the 428-million-year-old Dudley Bug, adopted as the emblem of 19th-century miners.

Continuing east to the town of Smethwick, Michael explores how postwar Commonwealth immigration to fill factory jobs led to racial tension on the streets. The son of a 60s anti-racist activist tells him how the politically charged atmosphere hit the headlines and led to the visit of American civil rights campaigner Malcolm X.