麻豆约拍

Michael Portillo explores the wild and rugged coastline of Northumberland by rail. He begins today in Morpeth, where he finds a historic collection of Northumbrian bagpipes and discovers how difficult they are to play.

The East Coast Main Line delivers Michael to Widdrington and its long sandy bay, where a beachcombing blacksmith finds treasures to inspire artwork in steel. Michael helps to put the finishing touches on a metal seaweed design.

At Rothbury, Michael visits Britain鈥檚 first smart home: a gadget-filled Victorian mansion built by wealthy industrialist and inventor, William Armstrong. Cragside clings to the side of a mountain and is full of such 19th-century mod cons as an early dishwasher, a water-powered roasting spit, central heating and hydroelectricity.

Heading back to the sea, Michael reaches the mouth of the River Coquet and the fishing port of Amble, home to one of the largest fleets of inshore fishing boats on this coast. An innovative scheme to promote ugly fish challenges his taste buds. Can he resist a red gurnard risotto?