Lincolnshire The Hairy Bikers' Pubs That Built Britain

'Pubs have been at the heart of Britain for hundreds of years...

Cheers, mucker!

'..in city taverns...

'..and village inns.

'Landlords have pulled pints for locals, travellers...'

and, well, the odd king or two.

'Myself included.'

Try and have a drink now.

THEY LAUGH

'But with 30 pubs closing every week,

'our historic taverns need defending.'

Step, step.

We're heading out to discover amazing stories

linked to the nation's watering holes.

-Not far to go.

-How far?

-Oh, a couple of miles.

-What?!

'From the Wars of the Roses...'

To shipbuilding on the Clyde.

We've ditched our bikes so that we can sample an ale or two.

Get in!

This is very good.

-BOTH:

-'So join us for...'

'Today, we're in action in Lincolnshire on a World War II

'history tour of some rather spiffing drinking establishments.

'Indeed. And we've got some right ripping yarns of Britain's brave

'RAF bomber crews stationed here during the war.'

Whacko!

Rural Lincolnshire, old chap.

It's also known as Bomber County, don't you know?

From this very county, squadrons of very brave young men

risked their lives on heroic bombing missions.

What's that got to do with pubs?

Kept up moral, you know, ginge.

Anyway, chocks away, old fruit.

Ducka-ducka-ducka-ducka!

'Well, if Dave ever returns, we'll be battling our way back to 1940,

'less than a year into the Second World War.

'German forces had overwhelmed Belgium, Holland and France

'and the Blitz on Britain had begun.

'A fightback was brewing and some of it was to come from the skies.

'The Allied bombing campaign.

'But, first, the Air Ministry had to find acres of flat land

'within flying distance of Germany for 28 new airfields

'and they found the solution here in Lincolnshire,

'or should I say, Bomber County.

This is the lovely village of Waddington, and it's slap-bang

in the middle of Bomber County and this is where we start our story.

In a pub no less, that servicemen and women have been drinking in

since 1916.

The Horse And Jockey.

Here, Kingy, did you hear that joke about the horse who

walks into a pub?

-I've heard it.

-Oh.

'This Grade II listed pub started life as a coaching inn

'in the 16th century.

'It takes its name from the local horse track, half a mile

'down the road where RAF Waddington now stands.

'And might the chaps from the bomber base

'have had a few wartime tipples here?

'Well, I think they might!

'We're privileged to be meeting a 96-year-old gent

'who proudly served near here.'

Les? Hello, the greatest pleasure in meeting you, sir. How are you?

'After surviving Dunkirk with the army,

'Les Rutherford signed up to fly bombers with the RAF.

'Incredible. I reckon we owe this man a pint.

Which squadron did you join and what was your role in it, Les?

-I was 50 squadron...

-Right.

-..and my role was bomb aimer.

I used to look down and see if I could see any pinpoints

to help the navigator.

Now, it was very, very seldom you could do because it was dark.

And what was that like,

doing that for the first time? Was it terrifying?

Yes, it was,

in a way, cos everything was new and you

wondered what was going to happen, you were expecting to be shot at.

'Les was just one of thousands of airmen

'stationed across Lincolnshire.

'Around 125,000 men served in Bomber Command

'and their casualty list was extraordinarily high.

'These brave lads diced with death on a daily basis.

'No wonder they needed somewhere to let off steam.

So, were the pubs the centre of your social life?

Very much so.

It was a relief to get there, you met people and

really had a nice time.

So, really, Les, pubs were an integral part

-of the war effort then, weren't they?

-Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

'Returning to the pub after a mission was a relief,

'but not when your mates didn't return with you.

'Over the course of the war,

'nearly half of all bomber crewmen were lost in action.'

It must have been dreadful, you know, the atmosphere in the pub

when some of your comrades didn't return.

How did you get over that?

We tried to put it to the back of our minds, it was there,

but you didn't talk about it.

Nobody said, "Poor old so-and-so", or anything like that, you know.

Just, "Oh, so-and-so went for a Burton last night" and that's it.

Psychologically, I don't think you could bear to...

dwell on the fact that people were being shot down.

'But in 1943, Les himself was shot down over Germany.'

The pilot gave the order to abandon aircraft

and as he...

Just after he gave the order, the aircraft blew up

and I was still in the nose.

And the nose of the aircraft was blown off completely.

Knocked me unconscious for a while.

When I came to, my legs were trapped in the wreckage,

so I pulled the ripcord and the parachute pulled me out.

And, even then, I was really lucky, I landed in a wood.

'A few days after his near-death experience,

'Les was captured and imprisoned in Stalag Luft III,

'site of the famous Great Escape.

-I bet you missed the pub.

-Oh, absolutely.

But we tried, we did succeed, in saving raisins

and things from the Red Cross parcels.

And made a brew, and then at Christmas time,

well, we got absolutely blotto, I think.

It was powerful stuff.

MUSIC: The Great Escape by Elmer Bernstein

And, of course, we hadn't had anything to drink all that time.

Oh, we did miss the pub, yes, absolutely.

-Cheers, Les.

-Cheers.

-Thank you.

Thank you. Cheers.

'As the war progressed, casualties on the home front rose.

'In 1941, the Germans dropped mines over Waddington,

'narrowly missing this very pub.

'But they did hit the air base and the village.

'Local RAF historian, Roger Crisp, has been coming here for years.

'He knows the important role the pub played that fateful night.'

Roger, very nice to meet you, sir. How are you?

Very nice to meet you as well.

It's great to meet you in your old haunt.

Did the village ever get bombed?

8th May 1941, aircraft came over,

the church was demolished and a second one hit the camp,

blew the front of the NAAFI off.

'12 people died and many were injured,

'but the community rallied round.'

The Horse And Jockey, being such a large establishment,

was used as a first aid post, for all the casualties from the village.

And those that lost their houses in the explosion

also came here for shelter.

Needs must.

So, big building, everybody knows it,

it was at the centre of community in crisis then.

Oh, yes, yeah, most pubs are.

-That's very true.

-Heart of the community.

-Yeah.

-Very true.

-Yeah.

'What a place.

'The Horse And Jockey did its duty on the home front

'and helped keep up spirits of brave servicemen like Les.'

Wow.

-Les - he's a hero.

-He is, absolutely.

Got a bit of trivia for you.

Go on, then, old bean.

Did you know that in 1942 at the time of beer shortages,

the Beer For Troops Committee was created

and tasked with ensuring that our servicemen and women

never ever went thirsty again?

Well, and nor should they, Dave, that's brilliant, that.

I'll drink to that.

'And I'll bet the troops raised a glass too.

'The scheme sent a mouth-watering 380,000,000 bottles of beer

'to Allied troops around the world.

'Kegs were even strapped under planes for delivery

'to the D-Day troops in Europe.

'All for King and Country.

'And when it comes to King and Country, Kingy,

'the fun facts are flowing in Lincolnshire's pub signs.'

'And here are three of our royal favourites.

'Crowned the most popular pub name in Britain - The Red Lion.

'When King James VI of Scotland

'took the English throne too,

'he demanded all public buildings should hang his Scottish symbol.

'And over 600 still do, along with this East Kirkby boozer.

'One of only four copies of the Magna Carta is kept

'in Lincoln Cathedral, staggering distance from this pub.

'I bet King John wished this was his local back in 1215.

'And did you hear the one about the king who hid in an oak tree?

'Of course, my mucker.

'It was King Charles II, hiding from Cromwell's army.

'Now, over 500 pubs take the name.

'I wonder if Charles branched out into wine bars too.

'Oh, leaf it out!'

'Back in Bomber County, we've travelled 17 miles east

'to Woodhall Spa, home of RAF Woodhall Spa no less -

'the third and final wartime base of 617 Squadron,

'the legendary Dam Busters.

'The Dam Busters, by Jove! Stuff of my schoolboy dreams.

'I feel a mission coming on.'

Now, your mission - infiltrate a base,

give me strategic detail on what the devils are up to.

I'm on it. In like Flynn!

Excellent, yes.

Hello, squadron leader.

Ooh, here do, lush wheels!

While Si heads off to RAF East Kirkby to scope out

the legendary Lancaster Bomber, World War II re-enactors

John and Heather are whisking me off in their jeep.

Or, is it a time machine?

We've pulled up at Thorpe Camp on a two-step back in time.

So, tell me, Heather, what have you got lined up for me here?

We're taking you to a tea dance, Dave.

What's a tea dance?

It's what the RAF and the WAAFs did in their spare time,

something jolly to take their minds off other things.

It was not all doom and gloom.

No, no, it's amazing the fun you can have with a cup of tea

and a record player.

It certainly is.

'Aye, especially with the WAAFs around.

'The Women's Auxiliary Air Force had over a quarter of a million members

'providing vital support for the RAF.'

'They were deliberately housed away from the airmen,

'but that didn't stop romance flourishing.'

Thank you.

'Before I try and impress anyone, I need a quick costume change

'and a lesson from a chap called John.'

So, John, you're the one who's going to help me

and lead me into the art of the tea dance.

Please, not the Lindy Hop though,

I don't think my knees could stand that.

We are doing a more simplified version, which is the Jitterbug,

which the Americans brought over in the '40s.

Fantastic. Did they used to dance in uniforms? Cos they're quite hot.

Well they did. The guys loved to wear the uniforms

and show off because it would attract the girls.

And, the girls, is that what it was all about?

Music, girls, dancing, fantastic.

Come on, then, John, instruct me in the forgotten art.

So, first of all, the footwork would go, left, tap, right, tap,

rock step, left tap, right tap,

rock step, right, rock step, stop.

I think you've got it.

-Wonderful.

-It's brilliant.

What we need is some girls.

Well, there's plenty round here, even though there's a war on.

-Let's find a woman.

-Go on, John.

'Even with my Strictly training, I'm not sure I'm ready for this.

'Let's hope lovely Wendy can take me in hand.'

-It's called the closed position, OK?

-Right.

So, hold your hand there, press you hand in, OK.

-Do I close?

-Yeah, yeah.

-One second.

That's right, that's wonderful.

I used to get grief of Craig Revel Hall for that.

We're going to do the throw-out, so we're going to

throw our partner out.

One, two, rock step one...

-That's it!

-..two, rock step, one two, rock step.

-What's next, John?

-Music!

Come on, everybody, help a hairy airman in distress!

CHEERING Woo!

1940S STYLE MUSIC PLAYS

Yay!

We've got nowt, but we do like to have a good time, don't we?

-ALL:

-Yeah!

'That we do, my mucker!'

'While Dave "Strictly" Myers is off strutting his stuff,

'I'm at the Aviation Heritage Centre at RAF East Kirkby,

'where I'm meeting John Bell, a veteran of 617 Squadron,

'the famous Dam Busters!'

John, hi, I'm Si, very, very nice to meet you, sir. How are you?

-You too, very well, thank you, lovely to see you.

-Jolly good.

Good grief! Wow, what a machine.

-Yes, huge when you're standing underneath it, isn't it?

-Yes.

'This is Lancaster bomber Just Jane.

'It was in planes just like this that the Dam Busters flew

'their famous mission to destroy German dams

'with the ingenious bouncing bombs.'

John joined the legendary squadron a few months after that very raid.

-What was your role?

-Well, I was the bomb aimer.

-Of the crew?

-Yes.

-The bomb aimer would have sat here at the front, I guess, is that right?

-Yes.

-And lying down!

-Right.

In my case, 6'4 in a 5' space. I was kneeling.

6'4 in a 5' space!

-That's right.

-What a clever man!

A little curling up was necessary.

I'm sure it was, I'm sure it was. For how long?

As long as it takes.

-Really?

-Yeah.

So Dave and I, we do a little bit of cooking, so if you were

up in the air for a good while, what would you eat?

Well, you'd have a flying meal before you took off, eggs and bacon,

one egg and bacon, and when you got back, if you were lucky,

if you came back, you got another egg and bacon.

There was always a joke amongst us, the crews, that you would say

to somebody, "If you don't come back, can I have your egg?"

And you know, that was the attitude.

How many hours in the air did you spend?

Altogether 700 hours, flying hours,

altogether in my log book. And probably as many in the pub.

The man who now looks after this fine old lady

is museum manager Andrew Panton.

-Andrew, hi, very nice to meet you.

-Hi, there.

-I'm Si and this is John.

He knows a lot about Lancasters.

-It's got four Merlin engines.

-Yes.

They weigh just over a ton each with the propeller blades on,

here it weighs about 19 tonnes, and when it's all manned up,

fuelled up and bombed up, it weighs about 35 tonnes.

It's like Top Trumps! It's brilliant isn't it? It's great.

Now I've got a fact-bomb of my own to drop.

The Lancaster flew 156,000 missions,

dropping over 600,000 tonnes of bombs, making it

the war's most successful bomber.

Is there any possibility of a very large northern chap

-getting in and having a look round?

-Yep.

I think we'll get you into one of the most famous positions

-of the aircraft, and that's the tail turret.

-Tail turret?

-JOHN CHUCKLES

Now why do you laugh? You laughed there!

Well, it's restricted space, but I look forward to seeing you in there!

It's known for being extremely tight, not a lot of space in there.

Great. Right, well I'm up for it, I'm up for it.

We refer to it as a "reverse TARDIS", so it's a

-lot smaller on the inside than what you expect it to be.

-Yeah, it is!

"Just Jane" is just one of two surviving war-built

Lancasters left in Britain.

And the other one isn't any bigger either.

Wah! Crumbs.

It's not what you would call first-class, is it?

I'm now in the most dangerous seat on the Lancaster,

and it belonged to the tail gunner.

How many hours Andrew would the men be here?

So, an average flight would be anywhere from

six-and-a-half to nine-and-a-half hours.

Down there, the gunner had a life expectancy of about 40 hours.

40 hours?

Yep, 40 flying hours.

So, OK, the guns are inactive, the aeroplane's going down,

it's complete and utter chaos...

-Your parachute is behind you in the fuselage.

-Yes.

You would bring it into you, rotate the turret 90 degrees,

clip the parachute on and roll out backwards.

I've now got to rotate it.

I can now feel what can only be described as a bit of a draft.

Don't worry, the rear gunner escaped from the turret

-and all you've got to do then is pull the cord, ripcord.

-That's ALL you've got to do?!

After you've got out.

I can't get my head round it.

Their life expectancy, sat in this seat, was 40 hours.

It's a sobering thought that 55,500 men

from Bomber Command were killed during World War II,

and only one in six men were expected to survive

the required 30 missions.

John Bell was one of the lucky few.

What was that strength and commitment to the war effort?

Was it, "We are right and they are wrong?"

-Yes, it was duty, belief in... Belief in survival.

-Yes.

We all thought, "We are going to survive, we're going to get through."

Yes, of course.

And many didn't. But some of us did.

And a lot of the time, you would enjoy

the time on the ground with your crew and other people,

you're not always in the air, you enjoy

the off-duty moments and you let your hair down.

And where might those off-duty moments be?

Well, the local pub...

Really(?!)

..could be the answer.

THEY LAUGH

Well, I think what is phenomenally interesting, is that

-the pub is quintessentially part of our British culture.

-Yes.

And long may it continue.

Definitely. Definitely. I quite agree.

Same here. Do you fancy a pint, then?

I do indeed. Why don't we go for one?

-Should we?

-Yes.

-After you, sir.

-Thank you.

And there's one special pub that would welcome John with open arms,

a pub dedicated to his 617 Dam Buster Squadron.

It's time to meet some locals who love their local.

The Dam Busters Inn in Scampton is the much-loved local of couple Heather and Nigel.

We've been coming here for about five years. We love The Dam Buster Inn

because it is a typical British... English country pub.

Great welcome when you first arrive. Great atmosphere.

Very important to the local community.

Close connections with RAF Scampton, and of course you're

surrounded by fantastic Dam Buster and Bomber Command memorabilia.

And if you've never seen the Dam Busters film,

here's a quick history lesson.

Chocks away, Si!

The Dam Busters were a special secret squadron formed in 1943

at RAF Scampton to bomb three vital German dams.

Led by the fearless Wing Commander, Guy Gibson VC, they flooded

the Ruhr Valley, causing great disruption to the German war machine.

-IN POSH TONE:

-"Permission to land, sir."

"Bravo, Kingy! Permission granted."

Landlord Greg's father and grandfather served in Bomber Command.

Dad's 91.

25 raids, 463 Squadron from Waddington.

My grandfather did 85 raids.

When Greg opened the pub six years ago,

he started his Dam Buster and Bomber Command collection.

And Nigel and Heather decided that they would

do their bit for their local.

-This is the...

-Got all the photographs....

..commemorative wall, of the Dam Busters,

which was put up for the 70th anniversary.

Everybody knew about Lancasters, everybody knew about dams

and what the Dam Busters did, but nobody could put

the names to the faces, which we felt was very important,

-so we decided to start, you know, putting it all together, didn't we?

-Mmm.

So we spent about four or five weeks trying to trace the photos of

-as many as we could.

-Yeah.

Very, very proud of it, yes.

To see all the people that come in the pub and want to

learn more about it and what they take from it...

Glad we did it, definitely.

Even the beer honours the Dam Busters.

There's Hoppy Hopgood, after one of the brave pilots,

or Final Approach.

Mine's a Bomber's Moon, thanks!

This tastes really good actually.

You sound surprised, Nigel!

-I'm not surprised!

-Not surprised!

-Not surprised in the slightest, I can assure you.

-No.

We try and get in at least once a week.

It is a nice place to relax and the locals are very friendly.

We get a lot of old veterans from various different

parts of the world who had something to do with Bomber Command.

You realise what they sacrificed and you need to keep the story alive.

I'll raise a glass to that!

To the heroes of 617 Squadron, we salute you!

-Cheers!

-Cheers.

Cheers from the Dam Buster Inn!

Back on our World War Two pub crawl,

we've returned to Woodhall Spa, where we're treading in the

footsteps of some of those magnificent men from 617 Squadron.

The Dam Busters didn't just fly their heroic missions

out of RAF Scampton, you know.

No, in 1944, Dave,

617 squadron was reassigned here, to RAF Woodall Spa.

And this pub, the Bluebell Inn,

it became their local, right to the end of the war.

-IN POSH VOICE:

-Well, that being the case, fancy a bit of a snifter, Ginger? Carry on!

The Bluebell Inn dates back to 1257.

During the war, it served pints to the four squadrons from the local base.

We're meeting historian Jim Shortland to find out how

this pub keeps its links to Bomber Command alive.

Jim, what a wonderful place, it's just like stepping back in time!

It is. It is almost as though

the time's stood still for the wartime period.

-Yeah, it's beautiful. It is, it's beautiful.

-Absolutely fascinating

-You can feel the history here.

-You can, you can.

'And you know what, Dave,

'there's a bit of living history in these very walls.'

Well, the ceiling, to be precise.

Jim, you can't help but notice that the ceiling is

covered in signatures. What's the story behind this?

Well, these were aircrew and groundcrew signatures

from when the squadron were based here at Woodall Spa.

So the tradition was that you came in, you had a pint,

-and you signed your name on the ceiling?

-Yeah.

But some of the boys that didn't come back

that signed it originally, of course, they're now glossed over.

History suffered a DIY disaster

when the ceiling was painted over in the '50s.

But many airmen returned to sign again,

including one with a right royal connection.

No, not you, Kingy!

Perhaps one of the most famous, is Prince William,

who when he was learning to fly out of Cramwell College,

came here and he signed the ceiling, just behind on your left-hand side.

Well, there you go.

But it's the ordinary airmen of Bomber Command that are still

the real attraction.

You're so right, Si.

It's a cracking place for proud families of the Bomber Command

to track down their own bit of history.

People will be here to see their father or perhaps their grandfather.

There is nothing like it in the world.

Luckily, this pub has a loving landlady, who for over two years

has been custodian of this legacy.

What I do love, is when the veterans come through the door,

there are certain veterans that they just have this lovely

glint in their eye, and you can see that, you know,

they've misted over and it takes them right back.

-It wasn't all bad memories, it was a lot of good memories for them as well.

-Yeah.

-I met John Bell earlier...

-Oh, yes, John.

..and he was saying that the closer you got home,

the more you thought about the pub, the more you thought about the pint...

-That's right.

-..because you thought, "That's one I've survived, good!"

And that is exactly it, that they'd survived and they were back

and so it was, you know, hands up to that and a good pint.

But for the lads who didn't make it back,

the pub has a poignant tribute.

I've noticed that in the gaps in the wood here,

-there are coins shoved in. Old pennies.

-That's right.

Because knew they were going off on a sortie,

they would put a couple of pennies in the beam,

and that would pay for their beer, the next night. Whenever they came

back in the pub, they'd think, "Right, take my money out," and that was it.

They soon realised that some of them weren't returning, and so

the ones that didn't return, when the guys came into the pub that night,

they would bang their pennies into the beam.

We always like to think of that as being their memorial,

-and to me, that was their last good night out.

-Yes.

It's a valid a war memorial as a marble cenotaph, isn't it?

-Yes, yes.

-Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

-Yes, it is.

Well, you run a marvellous pub, with an amazing history.

Thank you. We're very passionate about keeping their memories alive.

Turns out Shirley's cooked up another wartime reminder.

-Cor, summat smells good, Shirley!

-Aah!

Rationing made it difficult for pubs to serve food,

'but there was one un-rationed animal that was nutritious,

'tasty and rather good at procreation.'

Rabbits breed very well and so people used to keep rabbits and

would breed lots of rabbits, and obviously breed them for the pot.

-The say that about Geordies, don't they? "Breed like rabbits."

-They do.

-There you are.

-Exactly.

-Well, there's nowt much to do, it's dark a lot.

-LAUGHTER

So, what do you think of the rabbit stew?

I think it's lovely and I think it kind of symbolises the comfort

that the pubs gave everybody, whether it was with the beer,

with the company, and a nice plate of rabbit stew,

and that's what pubs are for.

'Listen up, Kingy! I feel a wartime classic coming on.'

Shall we?

One, two, three, four,

# Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run!

# Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run, you'll get by... #

You know Dave, isn't it great to see such appreciation

in Bomber County for the brave men and women of World War II?

'Aye, and great to see the pubs that served THEM

'while they served our country are still as popular in peacetime.'

Lovely.

Cor, it's well thirsty work, meeting all these marvellous people, mate.

Aye, it is, isn't it? It's lovely.

Here, I've got one for you.

Which, massive sci-fi blockbuster climax

was inspired by the Dam Buster raids?

I don't know, mate. Put me out of my misery.

Not it wasn't that, it was Star Wars, in the final

attack on the Death Star!

May the force be with you!

Cheers!