“Few people have heard of John Hawkshaw, the engineer responsible for Brighton's sewers, but he also built the Severn Tunnel and parts of the London Underground system. Such figures, largely forgotten now, conceived an infrastructure that was perfect in its fine detail and intended to last for a century or more - as it has.”

British journalist, broadcaster, and retired politician

Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former politician. He has 99 quotes on the site. Born in 1953, he is known both for his years in the Conservative Party and for his later television work. He served as MP for Enfield Southgate from 1984 to 1997 and for Kensington and Chelsea from 1999 to 2005, and he held ministerial and Cabinet posts. After leaving frontline politics, he became known for railway documentaries, including Great British Railway Journeys and Great Continental Railway Journeys.