What does Formula One and chariot racing have in common? 

High speed and high thrills races are something we usually think of when we’re chatting about Silverstone or the Grand Prix.

Celebrity drivers, highly engineered teams and arenas of fans might seem like a modern scene. But thanks to a piece of ancient graffiti carved into stone at a Roman villa, a window into a world over 2000 years ago is opened, one that sees chariot racers competing on an industrial scale.

James Grasby heads to Chedworth Roman Villa to find out what the Prasina Stone can tell us about sports today.

 

[Ad] This podcast is sponsored by CEWE, Europe’s leading photo printing company.  Every image you capture tells a story. Discover ideas for curating your special memories and creating gifts for loved ones. From the award-winning CEWE PHOTOBOOK to wall art made from your favourite photos.   

Start creating your story at www.cewe.co.uk

Host: James Grasby

Producer: Jack Glover

Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

James Ball

For more information about Chedworth, the Romans and the Prasina Stone, please visit: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/gloucestershire-cotswolds/chedworth-roman-villa 

 

Follow Back When  on your favourite podcast app. If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at [email protected]

Many of us grew up reading about Peter Rabbit and Mrs Tiggywinkle, but how much do you know about the woman behind the stories? 

In this episode we explore the lesser-known sides of Beatrix Potter. Discover how her love of natural science, fascination with fungi and knack for sheep farming formed one of Britain's most celebrated authors.

Start creating your story at www.cewe.co.uk

Host: James Grasby

Producer: Nikki Ruck

Sound editor: Jesus Gomez and Nikki Ruck

For more information about Beatrix Potter, her life, works and art go to: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/history/people/beatrix-potter

Follow the National Trust Podcast on your favourite podcast app. If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at [email protected]

In 1196, 9-year-old Ela was hidden away in France after becoming the third Countess of Salisbury. 

After being discovered and brought back to England by a knight who supposedly sang underneath windows to find her, Ela went on to become one of the thirteenth century's most influential women. 

As well as being a peeress, Ela is also known for being the Sheriff of Wiltshire, breaking social norms and defying the intensely patriarchal society she was in. As the King's representative in the county, she would’ve been responsible for upholding the Crown's law and bringing its enemies to justice, supervising the royal lands in the area, and much more. 

Ela was incredibly powerful, assertive, resolute and devout – she lay the foundation stones for two religious houses, more than 16 miles apart, in a single day. The first was Hinton Priory in Bath, and the second was Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, where less than ten years later, Ela was elected its first abbess. 

National Trust Historian Helen Antrobus heads to Lacock to discover the story behind this medieval marvel. 

Start creating your story at www.cewe.co.uk 

Production 

Presenter: Helen Antrobus 

Producer: Jack Glover and Lily Long 

Sound Designer: Jesus Gomez 

Contributor: Emma Zadeh 

Discover More 

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wiltshire/lacock 

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/history/people/remarkable-women-in-history 

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/history/what-happened-in-a-medieval-abbey-church 

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story idea, you can contact us at [email protected] 

On 10 November 1721 the Royal Anne Galley sank after hitting treacherous rocks at Lizard Point in Cornwall, tragically claiming the lives of more than 200 people.

The dead include Captain Francis Willis and his crew who had been on their way to Barbados to hunt down pirates.  

Join Helen and marine archaeologist David Gibbins as they uncover the tale of the 300-year-old wreck and the disaster's eerie aftermath.   

The Royal Anne Galley is one of thousands of shipwrecks around Britain's coastline. Its haunting story reveals the realities of 18th Century life and death at sea. 

[Ad] This podcast is sponsored by CEWE, Europe’s leading photo printing company.  Every image you capture tells a story. Discover ideas for curating your special memories and creating gifts for loved ones. From the award-winning CEWE PHOTOBOOK to wall art made from your favourite photos.    

Start creating your story at www.cewe.co.uk

Host: Helen Antrobus  

Producer: Michelle Douglass  

Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez 

David Gibbins

Discover David Gibbins’ A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks: 

https://davidgibbins.com/a-history-of-the-world-in-twelve-shipwrecks  

Find out more about The Lizard in Cornwall: 

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/lizard-point  

Head to National Trust on Youtube for podcast videos and shorts:  

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbSxeBQ-U-goXdmkiNBSrrg  

If you’d like to get in touch with feedback or a story idea you can contact us at [email protected]  

Seventy‑five feet beneath The White Cliffs of Dover lies Fan Bay Deep Shelter: a web of bomb‑proof tunnels carved through chalk after Winston Churchill demanded artillery that could dominate the Channel. 

During the Second World War up to 185 coast-gunners tried to sleep here between shifts on Mk VII guns that hurled shells from Britain towards France, 21 miles away.

A surviving narrow hospital bay, generator room and rows of bunk frames, along with pencil graffiti - service numbers, football pools coupons, rough poetry - humanise a fortress built for endurance. Every corridor still channels the distant percussion of artillery and the relentless hum of duty.

Closed in the 1950 and later filled with rubble, the shelter slept until 2012, when National Trust archaeologists and volunteers removed 100 tons of debris by hand to reveal a time‑capsule of wartime life. Fan Bay now stands as both memorial and classroom, inviting each visitor to trace the fragile line between vulnerability and resilience etched into Britain’s shoreline.

Start creating your story at www.cewe.co.uk

Host: James Grasby

Producer: Jesse Edbrooke

Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez

The Fan Bay Tunnels will open to the public for seven days from 20th – 30th June 2025 to celebrate the end of the Wanstone Rediscovered project. 

The gun emplacement and underground magazine will also be available to visit as part of the Fan Bay tour. This is the first time that these areas have ever been opened to visitors. There will also be free, pre bookable tours of the Wanstone Battery site from 11:00 each day 20th – 30th June 2025. Read more about Fan Bay Battery and how to visit: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/kent/the-white-cliffs-of-dover/fan-bay-battery---a-brief-history

The National Trust cares for places so people and nature can thrive. Everyone can get involved, everyone can make a difference. Nature, beauty, history. For everyone, for ever. You can donate to us at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/donate

Look out for the celebrations of VE Day at Winston Churchill's old home.  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/kent/chartwell/ve-day-80-at-chartwell  

 

General James Wolfe, the 'boy solider' who joined the military at 14 fought in one of Britain's bloodiest battles while he was still a teenager.

Historian James Grasby visits Wolfe’s childhood home to find out what would shape him into becoming a soldier at such a young age and delves into his involvement in The Battle of Culloden in Scotland in 1746.

If you’d like to hear about The Battle of Culloden from another perspective, listen to this episode from National Trust for Scotland: Lord George Murray with Murray…–Love Scotland: Stories of Scotland's History and Nature – Apple Podcasts  

Production 

Presenter: James Grasby 

Producer: Claire Hickinbotham 

Sound Designer: Jesus Gomez 

Contributors 

Ghazala Jabeen – National Trust, Quebec House 

Freddie Matthews – Historian and Cultural Heritage Curator 

Stephen Brumwell – History writer - brumwellhistory.com 

Discover more 

You can visit General Wolfe’s childhood home, Quebec House │ Kent | National Trust, which was renamed in his honour after his victory at The Battle of Quebec. See where he grew up, Henrietta’s cookbook, and the robe with which his body is thought to have been brought back to Britain. 

You can also visit the battlefield at Culloden | National Trust for Scotland 

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story idea you'd like to hear, you can contact us at [email protected] 

In a two-episode partnership between the National Trust for Scotland and the National Trust, join host Jackie Bird as she uncovers the life of a leading general in the Battle of Culloden. 

Historian and National Trust for Scotland Trustee Professor Murray Pittock reveals the story of Lieutenant General George Murray, a nobleman and soldier who was involved in each of the 18th century Jacobite Uprisings. His relationship with Charles Edward Stuart and the Jacobite soldiers, not to mention his shifting allegiance, make him a compelling figure from the period. 

To enjoy more episodes of Love Scotland, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  

For more information on Culloden, click here.  

You may also like some of our previous episodes on Culloden. Scroll through our podcast feed to find instalments on Flora MacDonald, Scotland’s most consequential battles, and how the events of Culloden influenced the world. 

Time travel, Martian invasions and free love all have one thing in common - H.G. Wells.

Helen Antrobus explores how the world was changed through the writings of one author as H.G. Wells brought science fiction to the masses with the War of the Worlds, the Time Machine and many more iconic stories.

Discover how a series of underground tunnels and a telescope in an attic room helped to pave the way for the sci-fi we know today.

 

 Start creating your story at www.cewe.co.uk

Production

Presenter: Helen Antrobus

Producer: Jack Glover + Sophie Wilkinson

Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Contributors

Mark Syson-Harvey

Sophie Wilkinson

Discover more

Uppark is currently closed for essential maintenance and repairs and will reopen in summer 2025. 

Keep up to date with the latest news and reopening dates by visiting https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/sussex/uppark-house-and-garden/uppark-essential-repairs-project

Find out more about other great books and authors in our collection by visiting https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/history/art-collections/great-books-in-our-collections

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at [email protected] 

It's the height of summer in 1858 and something rotten is lurking in the river Thames.    

Historian James Grasby unravels the smelliest side of our recent history as we step back into Victorian London to discover the Great Stink.

Hear how politicians scrambled to keep the stench out of parliament and find out what the smell meant for the working classes.

 

Start creating your story at www.cewe.co.uk

Presenter: James Grasby

Producer: Jack Glover

Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Contributors

Laura French (Crossness Engines Trust)

This story has been made possible with our friends from the Crossness Engines Trust, for information on visiting and for more of London's murky history please visit: http://crossness.org.uk/

Join us and other environmental charities to help to look after our waterways by visiting https://marchforcleanwater.org/ and https://theriverstrust.org/key-issues/sewage-in-rivers

Britain’s space race efforts were bold but short-lived.    

Join historian Helen Antrobus for the tale of Britain’s space race.

It’s the mid 1950’s and the height of the Cold War era.

British engineers are working in secret at The Needles on the Isle of Wight, testing a nuclear deterrent, the Black Knight Rocket.

But by the end of the 1960s the British rocket programme is under threat. Engineers have one last chance to get into space with the ambitious Black Arrow Rocket.

Can Britain reach the stars or will it fail to launch?

 

Start creating your story at www.cewe.co.uk 

 

Presenter: Helen Antrobus

Producer and sound designer: Nikki Ruck

Contributors 

Paul Carey

Steve Berden

Doug Millard

Jesse Edbrooke – voice of Ray Wheeler

In memory of Ray Wheeler 1927-2019 

With thanks to NASA

Discover more

Discover more about the secrets behind Highdown test site visit  The New Battery at The Needles

Find out more about the history of Black Knight, Black Arrow and Prospero rockets

Wight Aviation Museum

See the Black Arrow Rocket itself https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visit

Discover more podcasts

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/virtual-visit/podcasts#stories-about-nature-and-history

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at [email protected]