Journey to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Mottisfont garden in Hampshire, to discover a story of heritage and horticulture through two of the world’s most prestigious rose collections.

We meet Princess Esther Selassie Antohin, founder of Heritage Watch Ethiopia, to explore the Tsegereda Rose Garden Project, an initiative that restores a link to Ethiopia’s imperial legacy and also tackles climate conservation challenges. The International National Trusts Organisation (INTO) has twinned the Tsegereda rose garden with one of the most important rose gardens in the world, the National Trust’s Mottisfont.

Uncover surprising connections between Ethiopia and the UK – from Emperor Haile Selassie’s wartime exile in Bath, to Sylvia Pankhurst, an English activist who championed Ethiopia’s independence.  Follow the fight to keep this heritage alive through extraordinary roses.   

Discover a story of gardens that have transcended borders to become symbols of heritage, resilience, and international collaboration.

[Ad] Open the door to more with a National Trust membership. As well as free entry and parking at over 500 places we care for, you’ll receive:

• Access to our online Members’ Area, full of exclusive member-only content,

• A yearly handbook packed with visit inspiration,

Become a National Trust member: 

For a taste of the digital magazine, visit nationaltrust.org.uk/historic-recipes, or if you're a member and you'd like to switch, look for My Account on the website.

Producer and host: Jesse Edbrooke

Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

We protect and care 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 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/donate  

Read more about International National Trust Organisation Twinning (INTO) project www.into.org/withstanding-change-twinning/

Visit Heritage Watch Ethiopia website www.hwethiopia.org

Find out more about Mottisfont’s Rose Garden, Hampshire, England www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/hampshire/mottisfont/the-rose-garden-at-mottisfont

Click here to read these episode notes in Welsh

One of the simple pleasures in life is getting outdoors for a walk, taking in the world around you with some fresh air and then nipping into a cosy pub for a well earned treat.

Claire Hickinbotham takes you on some of our favourite walks from our book ‘100 Great Pub Walks’ and finds out why caring for our planet, is necessary for the good of the humble pint. 

From floodplains to fens, from peatlands to pubs, discover the work that goes on to look after our planet.

[Ad] This podcast is sponsored by Starling Bank. Peatlands are essential for people and the planet in lots of incredible ways - they act like natural sponges, storing more carbon than all of the world’s rainforests put together.  And they’re a habitat for a whole host of wildlife. And they act as flood defences in the face of climate change.

 

Starling Bank have been funding the National Trust’s work towards saving our peatlands since 2023, supporting projects that’ll restore and protect over 400 hectares of the UK’s precious peatland  – that’s 372 football pitches.  Find out more about Starling and the National Trust’s conservation work: https://www.starlingbank.com/about/partnerships/starling-and-the-national-trust/

Production

Host: Claire Hickinbotham

Producer: Jack Glover Higgins

Sound editor: Jesus Gomez

 

Discover more

2025 marks our 130th birthday. In each chapter of our history, we've adapted to the needs of the day. Now, it’s time for a vision that takes us into the future. Our new strategy sets out our aims and ambitions for the next decade and beyond. Find out how we are restoring nature, ending unequal access to nature and taking action here.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/our-strategy 

Learn about our peatland habitats and the work we’re doing to protect them here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/our-cause/nature-climate/climate-change-sustainability/preserving-our-peatland 

Pick up a copy of 100 Great Pub Walks by visiting https://shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/national-trust-100-great-pub-walks.html or by popping into your local bookshop. 

For more on wetlands, including Peat bogs, floodplains and fens, check out our friends at the Wetland Wildlife Trust https://www.wwt.org.uk/discover-wetlands/wetlands 

Find out how the climate is affecting the taste and cost of our beer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67078674

Find your local People, Planet, Pint here; https://small99.co.uk/people-planet-pint-meetup/ 

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] 

From March 2025 the National Trust Podcast will look a little different, so that we can bring you more stories in nature, history and adventure. 

We're splitting the National Trust Podcast into two dedicated shows for nature and history lovers. 

Stay with the National Trust Podcast for our nature podcast Wild Tales. You'll be immersed in intriguing stories from our incredible natural world.

Love history? Look out for our brand new podcast Back When. Step inside the stories of the people, places and moments that made us.

Remember to follow both Wild Tales and Back When on your favourite podcast app, to be the first to hear new episodes as they arrive.

We'd love to know what you think. Please get in touch with your feedback, questions and ideas for stories by emailing [email protected]

Just beneath our feet lies a hidden world of centuries-old curiosities and undiscovered treasures. But laying your hands on these forgotten items and figuring out exactly what they are requires some special underfloor sleuthing, to sort the rubbish from the rarities.

An archaeological adventure awaits in the story of the Dust Detectives, as the team uncover early medieval music and learn about the lives of ordinary people who played an important but unwritten part of Oxburgh Hall's history.

Become a National Trust member:

For a taste of the digital magazine, visit nationaltrust.org.uk/historic-recipes, or if you're a member and you'd like to switch, look for My Account on the website.

Host: James Grasby

Producer: Jack Glover Higgins

Sound editor: Jesus Gomez

Thank you to Anna Forrest, Matthew Champion, and Dr David Skinner DPhil (Oxon) for contributions to this episode.

Among the music featured is a performance of early Tudor Choral song by Dr Skinner’s Choir ‘Alamire’.

For more episodes and information please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/podcasts 

To find out about Oxburgh Hall please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/oxburgh-hall

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 this classic episode, experience life on Blakeney Point in Norfolk as it transforms throughout the year. From the mass arrival of seal pups in winter to the noisy feathered-frenzy of summer, discover how a remote stretch of shingle coastline is home to some of the UK's most unique marine wildlife.

Become a National Trust member:

For a taste of the digital magazine, visit nationaltrust.org.uk/historic-recipes, or if you're a member and you'd like to switch, look for My Account on the website.

Host and Producer: Michelle Douglass

Sound editor: Jesus Gomez

Please follow our seal-spotting guidance

nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/nature/wildlife/seal-spotting-guidance 

Find out more about visiting Blakeney National Nature Reserve

nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/norfolk/blakeney-national-nature-reserve 

Read about the Sea Mammal Research Unit’s work

www.smru.st-andrews.ac.uk

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 1848 an image of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children decorating an evergreen caused a sensation, and sparked a Christmas tree trend in Britain.

  

Many people began to bring trees into their homes and decorate them with homemade ornaments, sweet treats and naked candles tied with ribbons.  

  

The Victorians can be credited with inventing our modern Christmas.  In this episode, Clara Woolford, Curator at Cragside in Northumberland, takes us to the mid 1800s to discover how the “Cult of Christmas” and the centrepiece, the Christmas Tree, entered into millions of homes.   

See the UK's tallest living Christmas tree, a 42m giant redwood at Cragside, Northumberland:

nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/north-east/cragside/christmas-at-cragside

Read about the history of the Christmas tree:

www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/history/queen-victoria-christmas-tree 

*The National Trust Podcast is changing.* From spring 2025 the National Trust Podcast will look different so we can bring you more immersive stories in Nature, History and Adventure. Stay on this stream for our nature podcast, and look out for our new history podcast. We'd love to hear from you: please get in touch with feedback, thoughts or your ideas for stories at [email protected]

Production:

Host and producer: Michelle Douglass

Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez

Heritage sites like the medieval palace Bayt Al Razzaz in Egypt and the picturesque Blickling estate in the UK, are under threat from climate change.

What connects these vastly different places? And what can the guardians of these historic treasures learn from each other as they battle extreme weather, social upheaval and other challenges?

Discover the global fight to protect our heritage.

You can watch a video of this podcast on National Trust Youtube:

https://ntpodcasts.org/Video

[Ad] Open the door to more with a National Trust membership. As well as free entry and parking at over 500 places we care for, you’ll receive:

• Access to our online Members’ Area, full of exclusive member-only content,

• A yearly handbook packed with visit inspiration,

Become a National Trust member: 

For a taste of the digital magazine, visit nationaltrust.org.uk/historic-recipes, or if you're a member and you'd like to switch, look for My Account on the website.

Host: James Grasby and Jesse Edbrooke

Producers: Jesse Edbrooke

Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

INTO - The International National Trusts Organisation

https://www.into.org/

Withstanding Climate Change

https://www.into.org/withstanding-change-project/

Blickling and Bayt Al Razzaz in partnership

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/norfolk/blickling-estate/blickling-estate-twins-with-bayt-al-razzaz-in-cairo

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]   

As a wheelchair user, Melissa rarely has the opportunity of spending time on the beach with the rest of her family; and an activity for them all in the water together was unimaginable.  

But an ‘adaptive surfing for families’ session in South Shields in the North East, changed everything. 

You can watch a video of this podcast on National Trust Youtube: 

https://ntpodcasts.org/Video

[Ad] Open the door to more with a National Trust membership. As well as free entry and parking at over 500 places we care for, you’ll receive: 

• Access to our online Members’ Area, full of exclusive member-only content, 

• A yearly handbook packed with visit inspiration, 

Become a National Trust member:  

For a taste of the digital magazine, visit nationaltrust.org.uk/historic-recipes, or if you're a member and you'd like to switch, look for My Account on the website.

Host: Claire Hickinbotham 

Producer: Katy Kelly 

Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Find out more about South Shields Surf:

southshieldsurf.co.uk

Adaptive/Para - Surfing England

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] 

Sir Isaac Newton is best known for coming up with the theory of gravity while relaxing in his orchard, thanks to an apple that fell beside him one afternoon – helping him to unravel one of the universe's great mysteries. 

But that story is only a small part of the tale... 

Heather Birkett delves into one of the greatest minds of all time. Discover how a friendship with astronomer Edmund Halley helped to bring Isaac's ideas to the world and beyond.

https://www.bluediamond.gg/national-trust

Host: Heather Birkett

Producers: Jack Glover and Michelle Douglass

Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

This episode continues the story from a previous release 'Pips in Space | Featuring Tim Peake'. You could listen to that episode and hear more about the Newton Trees:

https://bit.ly/NTPod81

Find out more about Woolsthorpe Manor

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/woolsthorpe-manor

Read a biography about Sir Issac Newton

www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/

On 18th March AD 978 at Corfe Castle in Dorset, a 16-year-old boy was brutally stabbed in the back and died shortly after. That boy was the teenage king, Edward the Martyr. But who was the murderer, or murderers? 

Join James Grasby and author Anna Groves on this Halloween historical Whodunnit, as they try and figure out who committed the regicide, with the help of some other worldly encounters.

[Ad from our sponsor] This podcast episode is sponsored by family history website Findmypast. What was life like for domestic servants, workers and local communities at our most fascinating heritage sites? Discover how people from all walks of life lived and worked, and who with, in hundreds of census records, for free, by signing up with Findmypast. And find out about the free trial that you could use to explore your family history. See where the past takes you at: findmypast.co.uk/national-trust

Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrustcharity/podcasts 

Production

Hosts : James Grasby and Anna Groves

Producers : Pippa Tilbury-Harris and Nikki Ruck

Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Caitlin Packer, Ethan Hughes, Louise Bray, Mark Powell courtesy of Prime Theatre

Discover More

If you’d like to read more about the ghosts of the National Trust, you can purchase Anna Groves’ book, ‘Britain’s Ghosts’ here:

https://shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/national-trust-britain-s-ghosts.html

To find out more about Corfe Castle including details for visiting, please click here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/dorset/corfe-castle

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]