The Hairy Bikers' Pubs That Built Britain

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.