It has been a great privilege to work with the amazingly talented team responsible for Great British Railway Journeys. Thank you all. Special thanks to Michael Portillo and producer extraordinaire Fiona Caldwell, who helped me shape the series. Together we decided what routes to take, where we should stop, and what to do once we got there; together we wrote the scripts that have gone on to become the backbone of the book. Thank you too to Marc Beers, Chloe Sarfaty, Rob Daly, Laura Donaghey, Tim Brocklehurst and Colin Rothbart who, despite being the least likely band of train enthusiasts you are ever likely to come across, have spent many months filming Michael as he criss-crossed the country by rail. They are the ‘we’ in this book, and I am in awe of them.
Four books were invaluable in researching the series and book: A Historical Dictionary of the Railways in the British Isles by David Wragg; Fire and Steam by Christian Wolmar; The Victorian Railway by Jack Simmons; and Consuming Passions by Judith Flanders.
Special thanks to Liam Keelan and Pam Cavannagh at the BBC: Liam for his clear vision and help as we worked out what the programme was; Pam for keeping us on track through the second series.
Thank you to Karen Farrington and Cat Ledger who in very different ways kept my head above water whilst I was trying to write the book. Also to Helena Nicholls, Steve Burdett and Steve Dobell at HarperCollins, Giorgia Papapietro for finding many of the wonderful photographs and Rhiannon MacDonald for her relentless fact checking.
Thank you always to Corinne.
Last but never least, thank you to Camilla Lewis for asking me to produce the programme and suggesting I write the book.