Interview with Ben, the Labourer

18 January 2011

 

What made you want to take part?
It was something new, and I thought "No-one's ever done it, so it might be a nice thing to put my name to and would obviously build my CV up quite nicely." So I thought it would be a nice thing to do because I struggle to get work now and then, so I thought I'd never be out of work in the construction world again.

Why do you think they chose you?
Because I'm an animal. TV Gold, innit. It's hard to explain because you have to watch it, but they picked me because for my age and my size, I hold my own on a building site really, which is quite unusual as usually people my age get thrown about quite a lot and bossed about. And it's probably because I'm really good looking.

You had to live on-site on the caravans - how was that experience?
Ahh that was horrible, it was really bad - diabolical really. You met everyone on the first day who you didn't know and then you just like live in a caravan together...it was really peculiar stuff.

Who did you live with?
Fred.

Did you get on alright?
I would say we had our moments of friction, but it's like any other happy couple, we had our arguments. But we got on fine - I don't know if Fred would say that though.

And how did you get on with everyone else in the group?
Umm, I had a little bit of tension with Jim, but I think we resolved it in the end, through mutual respect for each other's ways. Basically, because I'm a labourer, I have to work with everyone, for everyone, so generally on the site I'm like man's best friend.

And was there anyone you got on with particularly well?
Me and Darren used to cause a lot of havoc; me and Tim used to cause a lot of havoc - we pretty much stuck together, us lot.  We went out drinking now and then.

You travelled to Turkey to see the ancient Roman ruins at Ephesus - what was that like?
That was a complete adventure, because I'd never gone away abroad like that. You're in a leisure environment, but obviously you've got to take in a lot in a short amount of time. Because we were claiming it as a holiday, you could drink whenever you wanted. It was great. It was a real Roman experience and we got to see the bits that aren't seen by the generally public, and we got to walk on the mosaics and had unlimited access, so it was really nice.

You had to work only using tools that were available to the Romans - what was that like?
Because I don't have a trade, it wasn't really too difficult. I'm an entry level on any site, so you've got to do what someone says - so if someone said you can't use power tools on a certain day, then everyone's got to use wheelbarrows. So it wasn't like a fish out of water to me, it was just about adapting. And I'm probably the easiest to adapt out of everyone, because everyone was coming off their trades and power tools. It was more the lifting of things than usual because we had to move tonnes and tonnes of sandstone by hand.

And did you learn a lot doing this?
Yeah I learnt tonnes and tonnes, because the base product of all things starting from the 1800s downwards was lime plaster and lime-based putty, so learning the whole process of that was great.  It was really nice to know how to burn limestone to turn it into lime putty. And I learnt just tonnes about the Romans in general. I remember in year 2 when we briefly touched on Roman history but then I didn't learn anything else about them during the rest of my entire time at school. So I went in pretty fresh-faced when it came to the Romans but I think I'm an expert now. I'm going to do a talk in a primary school about the Romans and what they did for Britain actually.  When I was at school I wasn't really interested in anything, so if I can bring my enthusiasm and youth to the classroom then it's brilliant.

What was the biggest challenge that you faced through the whole thing?
To me, because you do a lot of dangerous things on a building site no matter where you are, it's building up trust with people you've never worked with before. I do work in an industry which is really dangerous and I work in a two-man team, so when you work in that kind of environment, you build up trust with one another because it's so dangerous. So it was probably the element of trust with everyone and things like that.

And what were you proudest of that you achieved on the project?
The frescos, because I was never really good at portrait or framing art, I was only really good at sculptures in school. And I did all the frescos in the building and everyone was pleased with the outcome, including the artist, who was a fresco artist who had done work for Prince Charles. But we agreed that I would only do work for kings, therefore wouldn't budge him out of the industry when everyone realises how much of a great fresco artist I am.  

And what about the low points, what were the most frustrating things that happened?
There were little arguments between people which was a little sad, because it's hard to show someone how much of an opportunity someone's got, they can only reflect on it when they're out of the situation. I would watch a couple of them from my hovel and think them lads have got a lovely opportunity, so when people are arguing in that lovely environment, it's quite a sad thing. But that was probably the low point. 

What was the toughest point?
Probably putting the building up, because I don't think I trusted the whole team a hundred percent and there were so many captains and stuff, it made the ship nearly sink. But it was all pulled together in the end, and by the end of one day we had about 95% of the building up and I think that was the point where everybody started to pick the building up and work hard to get everything done.

What were the funniest moments?
Tim gets down to his boxers sometimes and chases people around - so that was quite funny. And watching Jim laugh because his whole face shakes when he does.

How did it feel to be among the first group of builders in over 1500 years to have built a Roman villa?
A massive sense of achievement, but it still feels like a massive secret from the public kind of thing - I can't hold my head high around the local pub just yet. It's like, I've done this massive thing to help the public, because that's the whole reason I got involved, because I think it's going to be a great educational tool as well as something the people of Shropshire are really going to enjoy driving past. But it's a massive achievement that kids are going to learn a lot more from, a 3D interactive experience, smelling and seeing how the Romans would've lived. And I'll hold my head high once everyone's seen what I've achieved and what the team has achieved. Because people look at you in the street and think that I'm a scumbag or something, but they'll see that I'm actually a nice person that wants to do something with their life.