Catch up TV

This episode is currently not available.

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 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

Most recent episodes of Villages by the Sea

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 2. Port Carlisle

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 1. Culross

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 2: 3. Bamburgh

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 2. Seahouses

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 1. Runswick Bay

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 6. St Bees

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 5. Bucklers Hard

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 3: Laxey

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 3: Parkgate

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 3: Orford

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Most popular episodes of Villages by the Sea

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 2. Port Carlisle

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 1. Culross

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 6. St Bees

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 2: 2. Staithes

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Robin Hood's Bay

Robin Hood's Bay

Archaeologist Ben Robinson reveals the story of smuggling intrigue and bravery on the Yorkshire coast.

20-05-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 3: Laxey

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 4: 8. Porthgain

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 5: 5. Bucklers Hard

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 3: Flamborough

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

All episodes

BBC 2

Villages By The Sea

Villages By The Sea - Series 3: Tintagel

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

All episodes

BBC 2

© 2025 - Catchupplayer.co.uk