Jules Hudson knew exactly what he wanted for his seventh birthday. Growing up in Colchester, Britain's oldest Roman town, he was surrounded by history.

The 11th century Colchester Castle is built on top of the vaults of a Roman temple, but there was just one problem. The underground excavations weren't open to anyone under the age of seven...

"My dad asked me what I wanted for my seventh birthday and I said: 'Can we go and look at the Roman foundations of the temple?'" recalls Jules.

"We went and the guide told us to look up at the ceiling. All the sand stuck to the roof was shovelled in by Romans. And at that moment a bit dropped off and landed by my feet and I took it home."

For the young Jules, this was the moment that sparked a passion for history and archaeology that led him to take a degree in Field Archaeology in Wales.

His work in the media began with jobs behind the scenes in Time Team, Horizon and in history programmes with Professor Richard Holmes. He praises shows like Time Team for making archaeology more accessible to the public.

"In the past, archaeology was always the preserve of archaeologists," he says. "It was a closed shop and a dark art only they could access.

"I thought this was just patronising. History is a part of us all; we all have a right to it.When Time Team started I was still working as an archaeologist. I'd be on a dig and someone would say: 'Where's the helicopter and the girl in the wellies and the guy with the beard?'"

Jules then went on to present shows including Escape to the Country and Countryfile. Now he has a new programme that's airing soon – Britain's Heritage Heroes. It is all about the men and women dedicated to saving our rich and varied history and heritage. It salutes skills, crafts and people needed to maintain this precious framework, many of whom are disappearing fast.

Jules is joined by fellow Countryfile presenter John Craven.

The two of them have zigzagged the length and breadth of the country to meet the people battling to save our historic homes, national monuments, last wildernesses, animals, industrial landscapes, traditional foods and crafts .

The new series is scheduled to start on February 6 and runs across the weekdays. Devon and Cornwall will feature in episodes 13 to 15 later in the month. The show has a positive attitude, but Jules Hudson says it started out with a different title.

"It was going to be called Britain at Risk," he recalls. "We were looking at the Buildings at Risk Register which doesn't just deal with stately homes, but also with castles, bridges, theatres. We shot a pilot and the BBC decided to expand it to a series.

"John and I decided that the title was too gloomy. In our minds we always had a sense of these 'heritage heroes'. They were the stars of this series.

"It would be a wonderful opportunity to highlight the work, not of the big organisations and the lofty, fancy efforts, but of people doing it because they want to.

"I'm a great believer in local history. It really resonates. The tale you can tell is really interesting and a part of our national narrative. It's lovely to be able to tell that story in a programme."

Each programme in the series features a number of projects and places – Jules enthusiastically describes it as a "compendium".

The series starts in the Pennines, heads for the Welsh borders and ends up in the West Country. It was quite a tall order for John, Jules and the team.

"It was quite ambitious – 15 half-hours is a lot of material to fill. There are 75 individual stories and we interviewed hundreds of people. Our Land Rover covered around 8,000 miles.

"But the people were wonderful. They are so passionate about what they do. There's something really infectious about things that are inspiring. There are people from all walks of life, all ages, who are passionate about the past. It's a bit of a busman's holiday for me."

West Country subjects in the series include shire horses at Hatherleigh, wool felt at Chagford, cob building, Torre Abbey in Torquay, Godolphin House, Helston, the Cornish language, Porthmeor Studio, Cornish choughs and a historical sailing and fishing lugger at Newlyn.

"We didn't want it to all be about buildings," says Jules. "We wanted it to have as broad a range as possible.

"One of the joys of the series for me was going to a boat building school at Lyme Regis. I could happily spend a summer there. We met Gail McGarva who had decided to give up her career to become a boat builder. She has a real passion for what she's doing. I love that sort of thing. I really want to get stuck in. There's a real love for sharing those skills and often they are using machinery that are museum pieces."

Gail was responsible for the building of a wooden boat called a lerret – it's a replica of one of the first vessels to be used as a RNLI lifeboat and was launched in 2010.

Jules says he thinks Britain's Heritage Heroes will have an uplifting quality.

"It's all very optimistic. It's not all doom and gloom and bad news.

"The projects keep going through no small effort on the part of the people involved.

"It's quite humbling, whether it's something being done at a cost of £9million or Gail and her lerret. It's a celebration of the people and the communities they come from – we've even had a song written for it.

"And then there's us two idiots in the middle of it," he laughs.