Walking Britain's Lost Railways

Rob Bell seeks out the lost railway from Elgin to Portsoy, a line which served the fishing and whisky industries so vital to the local communities. The track bed to the 'Scottish Riviera' of Lossiemouth once saw sherry barrels aplenty and vast quantities of fish along its surprisingly straight route - the picturesque docks still betray the presence of steel track right up to the water's edge. Rob is helped in detecting the line by local ramblers, but he's quite unprepared for the sight that awaits him: the magnificent Spey Bridge. Salmon fills the river here and once decked out in waders, Rob chances his arm with a spot of rod and line fishing with a local expert..

Starting in Sheffield, Rob treks the Trans-Pennine Trail following the disused Woodhead Line that was built despite almost insurmountable challenges through the bleak and inhospitable Pennines to reach Manchester.

Rob visits a model railway enthusiast to help him find the hidden start of this fascinating walk that takes him to the source of the hard ballast used in Britain's railways and a soft rice pudding factory.

The Penrith to Cockermouth freight line was built over the difficult terrain of the Lake District to ease the strain on the Cumberland miners and their beasts. Motor vehicles changed everything and the line fell into decline. Tourists now explore the spectacular countryside.

This railway was built despite complications and massive expense. Rob discovers a fantastic lost world, some impressive engineering feats and hears about lives lost when costs were cut.

The lost line from Ruabon to Barmouth on the coast represents a sea change in how ordinary Victorian working families were granted affordable access to the strange new landscape and language of the beautiful Welsh heartlands. Having hunted out the start of this now lost line in the overgrowth, Rob takes a memorable trip across the 'Stream in the Sky' at the breath-taking Pontcysyllte Aquaduct. Heading into town along the waterside through the grounds of the romantic residence of the Ladies of Llangollen, Rob meets the enthusiasts who have revived a remarkable 10 miles of stunning heritage railway line into Corwen. As the landscape opens up to reveal Lake Bala, Rob is invited to canoe the water. Here he learns how the railways contributed to the suppression of the Welsh language in the 1800's through some remarkably cruel methods. It's with this in mind that Rob continues on into Dolgellau using a second heritage line along the shores of the lake. Here he meets a local harpist and hears the sounds which became as intrinsically tied to the image of Wales as the bizarre traditional costumes that the locals wore to greet Victorian tourists almost 150 years ago when the line opened. Exploring the uses of old railway infrastructure, Rob marvels at a signal box now transformed to a nature observatory before moving on towards a well-earned pint at The George Hotel in picturesque Penmaenpool. The surrounds once again startle as Rob crosses the spectacular wooden edifice known as the Barmouth Bridge into the bustling seaside resort of Barmouth. With the help of a local historian, Rob learns that this became a popular destination for those Victorian tourists whose path he has now completed tracing.