Witham to Felixstowe

Michael Portillo's railway journey through 1930s Britain from Canterbury to Skegness reaches Witham in Essex. Here he visits the factory of the world's oldest supplier of metal framed windows which became popular in the 30s.

Crossing into Suffolk, Michael alights at Ipswich and discovers the story of a group of child refugees whose history is intertwined with that of Michael's family.

In the village of Newbourne, over a pint with the locals, Michael hears the story of the rural resettlement scheme that helped over a thousand unemployed industrial workers from the north.

Last stop on this leg is Felixstowe, where Michael boards a boat to reach an isolated country house, where secret research was underway in the 1930s. When war came, the experiments performed here saved Britain from defeat.