Ben Robinson unearths the unique past of Porthgain, a small Pembrokeshire village built for its industry, first as a slate quarry, then exporting brickwork and finally producing a granite-like stone that helped to create the nation’s roads.\n\nThe heavy industrial infrastructure that remains in this tiny village is a sight to behold. Porthgain’s prosperity rose and fell over the years, and many of the houses were owned by the quarry companies who mined there. Eventually, the villagers took back control and bought the village themselves.
Source: BBC 2
Series 4: 2. Port Carlisle
Ben Robinson examines the remains of a lost harbour in Port Carlisle, Cumbria, a small village near Carlisle which grew as a consequence of the canal building surge that swept t ...
12-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 4: 1. Culross
Ben Robinson visits Culross, a stunning example of a 17th-century Scottish royal burgh village. Culross was a major centre for Scottish coal mining and boasts the very first pla ...
29-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 2: 3. Bamburgh
Archaeologist Ben Robinson uncovers how the health and fortune of the village was shaped by those in charge of Bamburgh’s famous castle.
22-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 5: 2. Seahouses
Ben Robinson casts his eye over the industrious village of Seahouses in Northumberland. The archaeologist learns how the lethal shoreline shaped its transformation from a sleepy ...
08-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 5: 1. Runswick Bay
Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits Runswick Bay on the North Yorkshire coast, where he discovers how this pretty village was once a place of danger. Ben explores the mythical &ls ...
30-07-2025
BBC 2
Series 5: 6. St Bees
In Cumbria, on the edge of the Lake District, Ben Robinson finds evidence of early pilgrimage at a remarkable Norman priory. In a 500-year-old house in the village, the archaeol ...
17-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 5: 5. Bucklers Hard
In Hampshire, archaeologist Ben Robinson investigates how a tiny village, originally meant to be a free port to process sugar, became a bustling naval shipyard.\n\nBen learns th ...
10-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Laxey
Situated on the eastern coast of the Isle of Man, the village of Laxey is known today as a tourist destination, but as archaeologist Ben Robinson finds out, it wasn’t the ...
06-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Parkgate
Archaeologist Ben Robinson explores Parkgate, on the estuary of the River Dee in Cheshire. Today the village is landlocked, cut off from the Dee and the Irish Sea due to the est ...
05-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Orford
Lying off the North Sea is the unassuming Suffolk village of Orford. It’s behind a large shingle spit called Orford Ness. But as archaeologist Ben Robinson unearths, it&rs ...
04-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 4: 2. Port Carlisle
Ben Robinson examines the remains of a lost harbour in Port Carlisle, Cumbria, a small village near Carlisle which grew as a consequence of the canal building surge that swept t ...
12-09-2025
BBC 2
Series 4: 1. Culross
Ben Robinson visits Culross, a stunning example of a 17th-century Scottish royal burgh village. Culross was a major centre for Scottish coal mining and boasts the very first pla ...
29-08-2025
BBC 2
Series 5: 6. St Bees
In Cumbria, on the edge of the Lake District, Ben Robinson finds evidence of early pilgrimage at a remarkable Norman priory. In a 500-year-old house in the village, the archaeol ...
17-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 2: 2. Staithes
Archaeologist Ben Robinson visits the village of Staithes in North Yorkshire and unearths its role in kickstarting the chemical industry in the north east of England.
18-03-2025
BBC 2
Robin Hood's Bay
Archaeologist Ben Robinson reveals the story of smuggling intrigue and bravery on the Yorkshire coast.
20-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Laxey
Situated on the eastern coast of the Isle of Man, the village of Laxey is known today as a tourist destination, but as archaeologist Ben Robinson finds out, it wasn’t the ...
06-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 4: 8. Porthgain
Ben Robinson unearths the unique past of Porthgain, a small Pembrokeshire village built for its industry, first as a slate quarry, then exporting brickwork and finally producing ...
25-02-2025
BBC 2
Series 5: 5. Bucklers Hard
In Hampshire, archaeologist Ben Robinson investigates how a tiny village, originally meant to be a free port to process sugar, became a bustling naval shipyard.\n\nBen learns th ...
10-06-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Flamborough
Archaeologist, Ben Robinson visits the east coast village of Flamborough which sits on a rugged headland sticking out into the North Sea. A largely unassuming village today, it ...
28-05-2025
BBC 2
Series 3: Tintagel
Archaeologist Ben Robinson uncovers the secrets of Cornwall’s Tintagel, famed as the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. Ben discovers Tintagel was potentially more impor ...
02-06-2025
BBC 2