The Hairy Bikers' Pubs That Built Britain
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.
- 2016-2016
- 1 season
- Digital Media Rights
- Documentary
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.
Season 1 Episode Guide
15 Episodes 2016
Episode 1
The Lake District
Mon, Apr 4, 2016 29 mins
In Manchester, the bikers embark on a pub crawl through the heart of the city's industrial revolution. Starting in Middleton, they learn about the political plotting that fomented in back rooms in the 1800s, then they visit a local brewery to discover why beer became popular in Britain.
Episode 2
Manchester
Tue, Apr 12, 2016 30 mins
Dave and Si visit a pub with roots in the English Civil War.
Episode 3
Yorkshire
Mon, Apr 18, 2016 29 mins
The Hairy Bikers start their journey on home turf, with Dave leading Si on a pub tour around his native Lake District, following in the footsteps of poets Wordsworth and Coleridge.
Episode 4
Cornwall
Sun, Apr 24, 2016 29 mins
In Cornwall, the daring duo delve into the world of 18th-century smuggling, exploring a smugglers' tunnel in a tiny fishing village and visiting the real-life Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor, the setting for Daphne du Maurier's novel about murderous wreckers.
Episode 5
Liverpool
Mon, Apr 25, 2016 29 mins
The Hairy Bikers get groovy in Liverpool as they take a historic pub tour of some of the swinging 60s' most important pubs. They meet John Lennon's drinking buddies from the 1950s to find out what he got up to over a pint or two before he was famous. And before performing their own song on stage at The Cavern, the duo discover why one nearby pub was a regular for 60s stars including Cilla Black, Gerry and The Pacemakers and The Beatles.
Episode 6
Lincolnshire
Wed, Apr 27, 2016 30 mins
Si and Dave visit Bomber County, Lincolnshire, on a mission to discover the importance of the county's pubs during World War II. They visit a boozer that housed the homeless when the village was bombed and meet veterans with tales of daring do. And in Woodhall Spa, they visit the Bluebell Inn, a pub that served the famous Dambuster Squadron, amongst others, and now stands as a living memorial to all the veterans who served from the nearby airbase.
Episode 7
South Wales
Tue, Apr 26, 2016 29 mins
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. On the way, he journeys underground to the coal face to find out what life was really like, meets an award-winning choir and drives a steam train that has a pub at the end of its line.
Episode 8
Home Counties
Wed, Apr 27, 2016 29 mins
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.
Episode 9
Glasgow
Thu, Apr 28, 2016 29 mins
Si and Dave's historic pub tour takes them to Glasgow, where they explore the city's shipbuilding history. Meeting former shipyard workers, they discover what pub life was like when the yard's whistles blew. Si tries his hand at welding in a shipyard. And the Bikers celebrate the city's illustrious past with some cocktail making in a bar supposedly styled on the Clydebuilt ship, The Queen Mary.
Episode 10
East End London
Fri, Apr 29, 2016 30 mins
In London's East End, the Hairy Bikers learn about the criminal enterprises of the Kray twins, notorious mobsters of the 1950s and '60s. Si takes a ride with an old Kray associate, and Dave learns to fight like the Krays at their former boxing club.
Episode 11
Edinburgh
Sat, Apr 30, 2016 29 mins
Burke, Hair, and a pint - the Hairy Bikers visit the pubs of Edinburgh.
Episode 12
Bristol
Sun, May 1, 2016 29 mins
As an old starting point for voyages of discovery, Bristol offers the bikers fascinating stories about its seafaring past, from an inn with a hole in the wall to spy on press gangs to a landlord who was an ardent abolitionist. Dave also samples some cider, the West Country's most famous export.
Episode 13
Oxford
Mon, May 2, 2016 30 mins
Si takes a solo trip to the campus of Brasenose College, exploring a hoppy age-old ritual.
Episode 14
Great Fire of London
Tue, May 3, 2016 29 mins
Si and Dave's historic pub tour takes them to London, where they discover inns that witnessed the Great Fire and pubs that watered the workers during the massive 50-year rebuild of the city. The Hairy Bikers start at a pub on the banks of the Thames where Samuel Pepys watched the fire sweep through the city. They also meet modern-day mud larkers who've uncovered fascinating finds in the muddy banks of the Thames - many of them linked to pub life in 1666.
Episode 15
Carlisle
Wed, May 4, 2016 30 mins
The Hairy Bikers end their pub tour in Carlisle, where they discover an extraordinary WWI government scheme designed to put a stop to drunken behaviour by taking over and controlling all the pubs and breweries. The Bikers discover what the scheme did and how it changed Carlisle's pubs forever.