We’re joined by curator Michael Hunter to discover the story of Osborne’s Swiss Cottage – a little Alpine-style chalet with its own gardens and museum at Queen Victoria’s palatial former home on the Isle of Wight. This was the royal children’s private world, where they could play at being adults and learn the skills Prince Albert believed would make them better rulers.
To learn more about Osborne and the Swiss Cottage or to plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/osborne
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Episode 124 - A Victorian play palace: Inside Osborne’s Swiss Cottage

English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites, and brings the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk

History

Society & Culture

To mark Pride month this June, we’re taking a look at LGBTQ+ history and the private lives of four rulers who had same-sex relationships with their ‘favourites’. Joining us to discuss Roman Emperor Hadrian, Edward II, James I and Queen Anne are interpretation manager Nick Collison, head properties curator Dr Jeremy Ashbee, queer historian Kris Reid and curator of collections & interiors (Osborne House & Isle of Wight) Dr Christopher Warleigh-Lack.
To discover more LGBTQ+ history at our sites, go to: www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/lgbtq-history
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Episode 270 - England’s rulers and their ‘favourites’

Today, we’re discovering just how far Roman influence spread through Britain, as we explore the stories of three fascinating forts in spectacular locations in northwest England’s Lake District. Joining us to discuss the stories and functions of Ravenglass Roman Bath House, Hardknott Roman Fort and Ambleside Roman Fort in Cumbria are English Heritage properties historian Dr Andrew Roberts and free sites coordinator Lauren Emslie.
 
To find out more about the Romans in the Lake District, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/romanlakedistrict
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Episode 269 - Exploring the Roman Lake District

Today, we’re joined by English Heritage historian Dr Rebecca Preston and Professor of real estate practice law, Carrie de Silva to reveal the stories of two 20th-century women who have recently been honoured with London blue plaques. During their lifetimes, both Irene Barclay and Lady Marjory Allen contributed to improving people’s lives through their surroundings – Barclay as a convention-breaking housing reformer and Allen as a landscape architect and pioneer of children’s adventure playgrounds.
To learn more about our blue plaque scheme, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques
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Episode 268 - Building better communities: celebrating two pioneering women

We’re joined by senior properties historian Paul Pattison and independent historian and author of Mission France, Dr Kate Vigurs, ahead of the 80th anniversary of D-Day. We’ll reveal the story of the biggest landing by land, sea and air the world has ever seen, including how long it took to plan, the roles of Operation Neptune and Overlord and how the initial assault on northern France on 6 June 1944 helped to bring about the end of the Second World War.
To learn about Operation Fortitude South and the D-Day Deception, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dover-castle/history-and-stories/d-day-deception
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Episode 267 - Day of reckoning: remembering the events of D-Day

This week, we’re discussing the lives, loves, work and legacies of two unconventional artists from the early 20th century. Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant were part of the Bloomsbury group of writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in London – a group it was once said ‘lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles’. They rejected the past, embraced their present and expressed themselves in new ways on canvas, cementing their place in art history.

Joining us to talk us through their stories and the London blue plaque that commemorates their achievements are English Heritage blue plaques historian Dr Rebecca Preston, art critic, author and current blue plaque panel member Andrew Graham-Dixon, and writer and historian Rosemary Hill.

To learn more about the London blue plaques scheme, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques.
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Episode 124 - A Victorian play palace: Inside Osborne’s Swiss Cottage

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