The Hairy Bikers: Pubs That Built Britain

8.0

2016•29m

The Hairy Bikers take their charm and humour on the road as they encounter brilliant, eccentric and fascinating people across Britain whose lives surround the nation’s pubs. Their epic journey will take them into the secret world of the pubs that made Britain. From the first Roman taverns, to Anglo Saxon alehouses which sprung up in peoples’ homes, and the travelers Inns providing respite for a more mobile population, they’ll reveal the fascinating story of how Britain’s pubs evolved - but also tells a bigger story of Britain itself.

Seasons

15 Episodes • Premiered 2016

1. Yorkshire

The fascinating history hidden in Britain's boozers. Si and Dave visit a Yorkshire pub believed to have been drunk dry by troops in the English Civil War.

2. The Lake District

Dave takes Si on a pub tour of his Lake District home patch, following in the footsteps of the poets Wordsworth and Coleridge. On the way, they sample negus - a wine-based drink from the late 1800s - and battle it out in a traditional pub competition to find out who 'The Biggest Liar' is.

3. Manchester

The history hidden in Britain's boozers. Si and Dave take a Manchester pub crawl to uncover historic boozers once at the heart of the city's industrial revolution.

4. Cornwall

The history hidden in Britain's boozers. Si and Dave visit Cornwall, where they discover pubs that were at the centre of an illegal industry in the late 1700s - smuggling!

5. Lincolnshire

The history hidden in Britain's boozers. Si and Dave visit 'Bomber County', Lincolnshire, on a mission to discover the importance of the county's pubs in World War II.

6. Liverpool

The Hairy Bikers get groovy in Liverpool as they take a tour of some swinging 60s pubs. They meet John Lennon's drinking buddies and perform on stage at the Cavern.

7. South Wales

Dave visits the valleys of south Wales to uncover the history of some fascinating boozers and unearth pubs that were at the heart of the area's coal-mining communities.

8. Home Counties

From drinking medieval ale in the ancient town of St Albans to morris dancing in the oldest free house in Britain, Si and Dave embark on a historic pub crawl to discover how Britain's inns and taverns witnessed the beginning, end and intervening years in the Wars of the Roses.

9. Glasgow

Si and Dave explore Glasgow's shipbuilding history. Meeting former shipyard workers, they discover what pub life was like when the yard's whistles blew.

10. East End London

Si and Dave step back in time to the 50s and 60s of London's East End. Their tour takes them to pubs once central to the criminal deeds of the notorious Kray twins.

11. Edinburgh

The guys discover dark histories in pubs that witnessed murder and gruesome punishments in the 1800s, and meet a folk singer who keeps the city's historic tales alive.

12. Bristol

The guys delve into Bristol's seafaring past, discovering some pubs with fascinating histories and sampling the West Country's most famous export - cider.

13. Oxford

Si and Dave take a pub tour of Oxford to visit the spot where CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien drank pints together, plus a favourite haunt of Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter.

14. Great Fire of London

Si and Dave's tour takes them to London, where they find inns that witnessed the Great Fire and pubs that watered the workers during the city's 50-year rebuild.

15. Carlisle

The tour ends in Carlisle, where the guys discover an extraordinary WWI government scheme designed to put a stop to drunken behaviour and change the city's pubs forever.