Steam, stories, and a sky full of drones

Every so often a job comes along that feels a bit special. This one did. Channel 4 were filming Guy Martin: The British Train That Changed the World, marking 200 years since the Stockton & Darlington Railway — the line that more or less started everything on rails.

I was back on board as drone pilot, capturing the sights from above — steam, countryside, and a fair bit of history rolling beneath the rotors.

Back with the gang

Ewan, the director, gave me the call for this one. We’d worked together last year up in the Cairngorms on Guy Martin’s Proper Jobs with Mountain Rescue Sarda Dogs. It was a great shoot and a cracking team, and we all got on well — folk who could graft all day then still have a laugh over a pint at night.

So when he said the same crew were back — Justin Evans on camera, Graeme Smiles producing, Andrew Cholton on sound, and Simon Stubbs on minicams — I knew it’d be a good few days. We met up for dinner the night before, swapping stories and a bit of slagging about who’d drawn the shortest straw on call times. It’s the kind of easy company that makes early mornings a lot lighter.

A royal start to the day

Next morning was bright and freezing — that proper northern air (southern for me a suppose) that wakes you up faster than any coffee. The train was sitting ready at the line, steam drifting into the cold air, and there was a bit more buzz than usual. Turned out Prince Edward was coming along for the launch, which meant there’d be police drone teams flying too.

We all had a quick briefing, sorted our flight levels, and made sure everyone knew who was where. It’s not every day you’ve got three drone teams sharing the sky — especially with royalty standing a few yards away — but everyone handled it well. Bit of coordination, bit of patience, and a lot of mutual respect.

Getting airborne

For this shoot I ran my Mavic 3 Pro Cine for general shots and my brand-new Mini 5 Pro for closer shots but not as close as I’d hoped. 50m away because DJI made the drone 3 grams too heavy!. It’s a lovely bit of kit but will be more useful to me from January when the rules change.

The first location they’d marked for me was wide open, perfect for flight — only thing was, I couldn’t actually see the track from ground level. Once I sent the drone up though, there it was: the locomotive gleaming in the low morning sun, steam curling across the fields, the line stretching out through County Durham.

There’s something about watching a steam train from above — the rhythm, the smoke trail, the whole movement of it — that feels like stepping through time.

After those runs, we shifted to a second spot closer to town. Narrower airspace, more folk about, but that’s where the Mini 5 Pro came into its own. Smooth flying, plenty of control, and the footage looked brilliant on playback.

Wrapping up

Once we’d finished the last sequence, we packed down, had a few quick words with the crew, and I hit the road north again. Short trip, long day, but one of those satisfying ones where you know you’ve caught something a bit special.

A line that changed everything

On 27 September 1825, the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened its line from Shildon to Stockton via Darlington. George Stephenson’s Locomotion No. 1 hauled the first public steam train, carrying passengers and goods, and set off a chain reaction that spread across the world.

Two centuries on, it’s still a powerful story — invention, industry, and people connecting places for the first time. To film it now, with modern cameras and flying drones, felt like closing a neat wee circle between past and present.

Final thoughts

Jobs like this remind me why I love what I do. It’s the mix of history, craft, and teamwork — the buzz of working with a great crew and the privilege of framing something that means a lot to people.

Flying over the birthplace of the railways, marking 200 years of progress, and doing it alongside good folk — that’s a day well spent in my book. On Channel 4 26th October 7:30pm

A few pics from screen grabs below