THE North-East's railway heritage features in BBC Two’s Great British Railway Journeys presented by former Tory Cabinet Minister, Michael Portillo.

He calls in at Middlesbrough and Darlington on the fourth leg of his journey from Derby to Lindisfarne, part of the programme’s sixth series. The programme is on BBC2 at 6.30pm on Thursday (January 22).

It follows his travels around the country by train using a copy of George Bradshaw’s 1863 guidebook to compare and contrast modern Britain with that documented by the Victorian cartographer.

Mr Portillo visited historic William Lane Foundry as he explores Middlesbrough’s rapid 19th Century rise from a hamlet to a centre of Victorian Britain’s iron and steel industries.

And he explored Middlesbrough Dock, now the Middlehaven regeneration where he delved into Middlesbrough’s history as the first major settlement to emerge as a result of the development of the railways in the 1820s and the town’s expansion following the extension of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

Edward Bilcliffe, MD of William Lane Foundry added: “We were delighted to welcome Michael and his team to our Foundry, which relocated to the heart of Middlesbrough’s Ironmasters District in 1890, after setting up in Stockton in 1862. We have stood the test of time as a poignant reminder of the industries which the Victorian town was all about.”

Mr Portillo's next stop is Darlington, spiritual home of the railways, where he learns how the town profited from its fast connections to the capitals of England and Scotland by developing a newspaper industry. Michael visits The Northern Echo and finds out about the colourful history of one of its editors, WT Stead.

Great British Railway Journeys Middlesbrough to Hexham will be broadcast on BBC Two on Thursday, January 22 at 6.30pm.