BBC documentary features Tiptree's Wilkin and Sons

Journalist and presenter Michael Portillo visited Wilkin and Sons in Tiptree as part of the BBC show Great British Railway Journeys.

The documentary series, which airs tomorrow on BBC2 at 6.30pm, sees Mr Portillo travel the length and breadth of the country by train.

Chairman of Wilkin and Sons Walter Scott said it was a “great pleasure” to welcome Mr Portillo and the crew and described the day as a “great success”.

The episode will focus on Land Army Girls.

During the first and second world wars women filled the jobs left by men who had gone to fight.

The Women’s Land Army was created for women to work in agriculture.

In spring 1942, there were a total of 42 Land Army girls working on Tiptree Farm.

Mr Scott said: “It was a great pleasure to welcome Michael Portillo and his television film crew from Great British Railway Journeys to our Tiptree Farm.

“Their theme concerned the role of the Land Army Girls who worked the land, helping to cultivate and harvest the crops, including our fruit, thus ensuring the country was fed during the war.

“We filmed in our Damson orchard.

“The day was a great success and we are sure Mr Portillo enjoyed his time with us.”

Wilkin and Sons has been making jam and preserves for 130 years is one of the biggest suppliers with the UK jam market worth £100 million a year.

Mr Portillo also visited Dedham as part of the series where he explains the conflict between two famous painters - traditionalist Sir Alfred Munnings and the modern art school established in the village by Cedric Morris.

The famous broadcaster ended this leg of the journey in Harwich, where he met two siblings who arrived there as part of Kindertransport, the mission which brought thousands of Jewish children to safety ahead of Nazi occupation and genocide in 1938.

This is not the first time Mr Portillo has visited Wilkin and Sons.

In 2014, the former MP visited the firm to film another series of Great British Railways focusing on John Joseph Mechi - the inventor and experimental farmer who rebuilt Tiptree Hall.

Mr Portillo visited the farm and the on-site jam museum where a gentleman’s travelling box made by Mr Mechi is displayed.

• Great British Railway Journeys airs on BBC2 tomorrow (May 4) at 6.30pm and is available on BBC i-player.