A NEW six-part series exploring the UK villages that played a vital role in the country’s history will feature a south Cumbrian ‘treasure’.

Archaeologist Ben Robinson visited Arnside for the second series of BBC’s Villages by the Sea, which will air from November 8.

The Victorian village, which lies on the banks of the River Kent, was well loved by Arthur Ransome, author of Swallows and Amazons, and during the 19th century it earned a reputation as home to some of the finest traditional boat building.

It was the arrival of ship carpenter John Crossfield and his boat building business that contributed to the village expansion in the early 1800s.

During the fifth episode Ben discovers how the history of the village is interwoven with the story of the Crossfields and joins a descendant of the family for an emotional visit inside the boatbuilders’ former home.

He also meets John Hodgson, who joined the boatyard as an apprentice in 1960 and reveals that the craftsmen had to work in complete silence so as to hear the grain of the wood against their tools.

And he discovers why despite Arnside growing into a tourist hot spot with arrival of the Kent Railway Viaduct, it did not grow into a big resort.

“Arnside is a treasure,” said Ben.

“I didn’t know the story of Arnside before we started doing this series.

“Arnside was a surprise, it was lovely.”

For this series Ben decided to arrive to locations by sea, which he said made him have ‘great respect’ for mariners, fishermen and traders who diced with the country’s choppy waters.

“The Kent Estuary is not an easy place to navigate,” he said.

“I have complete respect for the mariners, traders and fishermen who had to navigate that.”

The television presenter said he hopes to return to the area to discover more of its stories.