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Following his 1936 Bradshaw’s guidebook, Michael Portillo explores the east of England, in London and Essex, en route to Lincolnshire.

On this leg, Michael alights at Limehouse in east London for Cable Street, which became the focus of Britain’s fight against fascism in the 1930s.

Heading east, he arrives in Dagenham, the location of one of Henry Ford’s first car factories in the UK. Michael discovers the story of the first £100 family vehicle and gets behind the wheel of a pioneering pick-up truck.

Leaving London, Michael crosses into Essex and in Southend gets the scoop on a seaside favourite, and heads to the world-famous pier with his ‘gelato’ cart.

In Rochford in Essex, Michael learns how an unusual alliance between London’s Crossrail railway project and conservation is helping thousands of birds.