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Guy Martin: Industrial Wonders

Season 1
In this six-part series Guy Martin celebrates the workers of Britain's Industrial Revolution by getting stuck into six of the country's biggest restoration projects and bringing some of the 19th Century's most impressive engineering achievements back to life. Each episode focuses on the jobs of the unsung heroes of the time - ordinary men, women and children who worked 14-hour days for little pay.
6 episodes13+
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Episodes

  1. S1 E1 - Railways
    October 20, 2012
    48min
    13+
    Guy helps to overhaul a steam locomotive with the designation "5164" used on the popular Severn Valley Railway. He joins a team of volunteers to do the repairs and he lays some track using exactly the same methods as the 'navvies' who laid Britain's entire railway infrastructure by hand. If everything works then Guy will get the chance to try his hand at being a steam train driver.
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  2. S1 E2 - The Mill
    October 27, 2012
    47min
    13+
    Guy's main project in this episode is to get a Yorkshire saw mill - Gayle Mill in Wensleydale - up and running and back in business, and then use it to make a replica of another less celebrated invention of the Victorian era: a wooden bicycle. If Guy can get the mill running and build his bike, then it'll need a test run and that test run is unlikely to be a gentle trundle across the dales!
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  3. S1 E3 - Seaside
    November 3, 2012
    46min
    13+
    In this episode, Guy's project is perhaps the period's most enduring creation: the British seaside holiday. In Llandudno - a purpose built Victorian seaside resort - Guy helps with essential and dangerous restoration work on the town's magnificent pier.
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  4. S1 E4 - Mine
    November 10, 2012
    46min
    13+
    Guy's project this week is the machine which can be credited with kickstarting the Industrial Revolution and was the first piston engine ever built. - The Newcomen Beam Engine. If Guy and the team at the Black Country museum can get their Beam Engine up and running again it will be the only working example of this groundbreaking technology in the world.
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  5. S1 E5 - Trawler
    November 17, 2012
    47min
    13+
    In this episode, Guy Martin helps with the 500,000 pounds restoration of the world's oldest surviving Brixham sailing trawler, a boat that created a quantum leap in the 19th century fishing industry and resulted in Britain's love affair with fish and chips. Guy learns the same precision joinery methods as the boat builders from the 1800s, and experiences deep sea trawling for himself.
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  6. S1 E6 - Park
    November 17, 2012
    46min
    13+
    Guy's project this week is one of the more surprising legacies of the Victorian period - the public park. Guy is helping with vital renovation work at one of the most significant Victorian parks still open today: Birmingham Botanical Gardens. And happily for Guy, the genteel beauty of the gardens is underpinned by some of the era's most sophisticated engineering.
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Details

More info

Audio languages
English
Subtitles
English [CC]
Directors
Jessica MatthewsJames Woodroffe
Producers
James WoodroffeEwan Keil
Cast
Guy Martin
Studio
All3Media
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