The Hairy Bikers' Pubs That Built Britain — Season 1

Si and Dave uncover 370 years of pub history in a Yorkshire pub believed to have been drunk dry by troops the night before the bloodiest battle of the English Civil War - the Battle of Marston Moor. Dave takes a lesson in battlefield fighting, while Si hears tales of Ripley Castle's famous lady - 'Trooper' Jane. And in York, the Hairy Bikers learn the gruesome history of a pub which once doubled up as a hospital.

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 is 'The Biggest Liar'.

Si and Dave take a Manchester pub crawl to uncover historic boozers once at the heart of the city's industrial revolution. Starting in Middleton, they discover politics, protest and plotting were rife in one of the pub's back rooms during the early 1800s. They visit a local brewery to discover when and why beer became popular in Britain and they join a knitting group to find out why their Salford local is so important to the community.

Si and Dave take a trip back in time in Cornwall where they discover pubs that were at the centre of an illegal industry in the late 1700s - smuggling! Starting in the tiny fishing village of Polperro, they discover a smugglers' tunnel and a landlord with criminal connections. Heading inland to Bodmin Moor, the Hairy Bikers visit the famous Jamaica Inn where they discover how to make the tipple of the time - rum shrub.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

The Hairy Bikers' pub tour takes them to Edinburgh where they delve into the evil doings of Burke and Hare. On the way, they discover dark histories in pubs that witnessed murder, crime and gruesome punishments in the 1800s, and hear of a ghost who visits one of the city's oldest bars. They also meet a pub folk singer who keeps the city's historic tales alive in his songs.

The Hairy Bikers delve into Bristol's seafaring past and discover some pubs with fascinating histories, from an inn with a special hole in the wall designed to keep watch for press gangs, to a landlord who played a key role in the abolition of slavery. And Dave samples some of the West Country's most famous export - cider.

Following in the footsteps of some of Britain's literary greats, Si and Dave take a pub tour of Oxford to visit the spot where CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien drank pints together. They also drop into one of the city's oldest inns - a favourite haunt of Inspector Morse creator, Colin Dexter. And while Dave goes for a punt, Si visits Brasenose College for a taste of one of their ancient rituals - Brasenose Ale.

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.

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.