Benjamin's Britain

Join us for an West London extravaganza as we explore the iconic Trellick Tower and delve into the world of brutalist architecture. Our guest, Sam Gerson, is not only Ben's school friend but also his former housemate of 8 years. We discuss the history, significance, and unique features of Trellick Tower, a symbol of brutalist design that has left a lasting mark on London's skyline. Sam also takes us on a journey to another remarkable alternative landmark: Paddington Station. This is an episode for the architecture lovers as we chat about the station's rich history, architectural beauty, and its connection to transportation and literature. We hope you enjoy!You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Benjamin's Britain is back from a summer break and we are straight back to history class with our guest Hannah Gaventa, aka Ben's first manager turned friend. Hannah joins us to talk about a chilly January day to Buckler's Hard a hamlet in Hampshire. We discuss both its famous picturesque cottages, it's colonial links and its surprising World War Two history. Hannah then takes us into some East London family history for her alternative landmark.You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

This episode of the Benjamin's Britain podcast we are going back to basics with no guest. We've asked you, the listeners, to choose from some of Nicky and Ben's best landmarking trips over the past 7 years and you went for the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, ie. the infamous Mary Rose and her glamorous younger sister the HMS Victory. Nicky and Ben cast their minds back to their visit in 2016 and discuss all thinks British Navy, Nelson and ships.No alternative landmarks today, but instead Ben asks Nicky some listener questions about Ben's project to visit all 500 sites.You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

This is a very Welsh themed episode starting of with our guest Andy Watts talking to us about his trip with his wife and Ben to St Ann's Head, Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire. On this site Henry VII catapulted 'the Tudors' into the limelight, landing in West Wales before storming through to England to defeat Richard III and end the War of the Roses. Later Andy discusses his alternative landmark choice which takes us underground with some slate mining... and zip lining?!You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Unbelievably this episode of Benjamin's Britain features it's first ever castle! While Ben has visited many, our guest on this episode Fariya Mohiuddin is the first to discuss a castle visit with him on the pod, and in this case it's Kenilworth Castle, Warkwickshire that is in the limelight. Famous for Britain's longest siege, Fariya and Ben discovered it's Tudor history had more *ahem* allure. Stay tuned in for the final part of the episode which fast-forwards a few hundred years to the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush.You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

We're back! To open Season 4 of Benjamin's Britain we've invited our history teacher friend Paul along to talk all things Northern. Lancashire born Paul, leads us through through the history of the iconic seaside town of Blackpool, it's Pleasure Beach, drag scene and social culture. And his alternative landmark has a very similar flavour...You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Closing Season 3 of the Benjamin's Britain podcast, is our guest (and Ben's dad) Steven Salamon. After a recent trip to Rugby on Super Saturday, Ben and Steven talk about their day touring the famous school, it's educational and sporting history and their watching Rugby in town where it all began. This episodes alternative landmark takes us to their hometown of Cardiff. We hope you've enjoyed our season. If you have do drop us a 5* review and follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@benjaminsbritainpod).  See you soon!You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Dan Gouldman joins Ben and Nicky to talk everything landmark soundtracks, the Roman invasion of Britain and persuading Ben to get into battle re-enactment. As if he didn't have enough to be getting on with. Dan's alternative landmark pick takes us to East Anglia on a lovely punting trip. You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Guest Ollie Cox joins us for our first ever in-person episode recording. Ollie transports us back to Victorian Shropshire in the height of the industrial revolution, to discuss not only his main landmark choice of "Ironbridge" but also his alternative landmark. You will, quite literally, be taken on a journey through history on this episode so we hope you enjoy it!You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Some landmarks are niche, and the one Hava Kranat joins us to talk about today is no exception. In the height of football World Cup fever in 2018 she joined Ben for a trip to Coleman's Mustard Works just outside of Norwich. It turns out that it was one of the hardest landmarks to access so far. As a London Underground expert, it is no surprise that Hava picks a fantastic underground gem for her alternative landmark choice. One you may not even know about even if you live in London.You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Literary research fellow, sheep expert and self-confessed nerd, Dr Briony Wickes, delivers a HUGE landmark for this episode of the Benjamin's Britain podcast. Briony, Nicky and Ben discuss a trip with their friends to the exclusive Ceremony of the Keys. The traditional 'locking of the tower' has taken place for over 700 years at 9.53pm every night and is the oldest extant military ceremony in the world.Briony's alternative landmark is also a bit of an institution. Without giving much away we talk about it's historical links to Dickens, the 90s rave scene, industrial revolution and even time itself.You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

This episode, with guest Australian-based Diane Broinshtein, is one of two halves. Diane woke up early to talk about her trip with Ben to the oldest site in the landmarks book, Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, where the remain of a Mesolithic (7100BC) man was found in the Victorian era. To balance the books, Diane's alternative landmark brings us right up to the 21 century with some famous street art.You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

The tables are turned for this episode with Nicky's sister Jenny as the podcast guest. Jenny secretly loves being dragged on her sisters-friends landmarking trips and actually hosted them in Durham back in 2018, which is the focus of this episode. Jenny's a HUGE theatre nerd, so it may not be surprising that this comes up in the later part of the show. You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Welcome back to Season 3 of Benjamin's Britain, the podcast where we discuss Ben Salamon's mad scheme of visiting all 500 sites in Clive Aslett's "Landmarks of Britain". Joining Ben is regular co-host Nicky Pavitt and Ben's oldest friend Chris "Brunel-fanboy" Jones. Chris is a fellow Welshman, chartered engineer, rugby lover and has a lot to say about bridges... You will not be surprised the Chris chose a trip to a Brunel family landmark to discuss today along with an alternatively landmark from his hometown of Bristol which has been in the news just this week!Enjoy! You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Our season finale! We finish off our season with some 'on location' clips from Ben's trip to visit Nicky in Bath, a city with a landmark so good they named itself after it. After a few extra bonus clips from the series Ben and Nicky wrap up by discussing the four landmarks in Bath that Clive Aslet put in his book "Landmarks of Britain: The Five Hundred Places that Made Our History". And it an episode wouldn't be complete without a guests alternative pick, this time of the swimming pool variety.You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

It's Part 1 of our season finale. It's been a fantastic season and we've had some incredible guests. To celebrate the Summer we have put together some clips you haven't yet heard. This includes a trip a trip to where the first ever pineapple was grown in Britain, the great fire of Exeter (hotel) and the future of the monarchy in Australia.To be continued...Thanks to Gemma, Vic, Amie, Jack, Matt, Daniel and Sam for joining us.You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Ben's brother Dan Salamon, joins Nicky and Ben to discuss a trip to Tewkesbury, home to a Wars of the Roses battle site, and how Ben blackmailed him into it. We also discuss the musical mastery of Horrible Histories, historical Disney films and Dan's alternative landmark, Big Joe at Birmingham University. You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

Matthew Carr, radiographer and resident science expert, joins Ben and Nicky to talk about Jodrell Bank - Not a bank, but home to the giant Lovell Telescope in Cheshire. Since the 1950's it has been one of the biggest and most powerful radio telescopes in the world and had a part to play in the Cold War. Matt's alternative landmark isn't far from where the boys went to school and would sneak off for views over Cardiff.You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

As if we needed any more excuses to talk about Exeter! Fellow Exeter Alumni and Ben's former Uni housemate Jack Mead joins us to discuss the city's landmark, the cathedral. Jack, drama grad and primary school teacher, stayed in Exeter post graduation and is now bringing up his family there so is pretty much a local expert. He also talks to us about his spooky alternative landmark which is shrouded in mystery...You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.

14 months of quarantine - Sound familiar? That's what the village of Eyam had to do when The Great Plague made it's way to their village in Derbyshire in 1665. Classics teacher, baker and vegetable grower, Vic Boorman joins Nicky and Ben to throwback to their timely trip to Eyam in Summer 2020. Vic also lets us in on a lesser known historical hobby of hers, Letterboxing.References:Balding, C. (2016) Eyam, Derbyshire, Ramblings - Series 32, [Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0745gt3]Brooks, G. (2001). Year of wonders: A novel of the plague. New York: Viking. Chicago Foster, A. (2020) Eyam, The Plague Village (Pandemic Super Special), Vulgar History [Available at https://anchor.fm/vulgarhistory]You can now buy us a coffee if you enjoy our episodes - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/benjaminsbritainWe'd love you to subscribe and rate us on when you listen to your favourite podcasts. Follow us at @benjaminsbritainpod on Instagram for social content and updates.