The Architecture the Railways Built

Presenter Tim Dunn is endearingly, breathlessly excited boarding an engine belonging to the Ffestiniog railway in north Wales: “This is one of my favourite rides in the world!” He is so enthusiastic you want to ruffle his hair and give him candyfloss.

It’s this very delight that makes The Architecture the Railways Built such a pleasure, a piece of escapism from the days when you could still board a train without anyone asking where you were going and why.

Dunn jumps into a pit to check out one of the steam engines, or “iron horses” as he calls them, and visits a pretty trackside railway cottage once used for holidays by spy Kim Philby’s eccentric dad.