The Great Blow - one of the most spectacular disasters that Norfolk has ever seen! Join us to hear about the events that precipitated this violent catastrophe, including a fateful meeting in a pub, an angry Royalist mob, and some careless use of weaponry. Plus, we finally answer the question that has been troubling everyone (yes, everyone) for centuries - did Oliver Cromwell really cancel Christmas?

It’s time to finish the story of Howard Carter. When we left him at the end of Part 1, Carter had just made the acquaintance of the Earl of Carnarvon: a fateful meeting that was to lead to one of the most astonishing archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. In Part 2, we hear about the unearthing of the final great tomb of the Valley of the Kings, drink a future explorer’s drink, and discuss the question of the curse of the pharaohs.

We’re back! This episode begins the story of the most famous Egyptologist there has ever been. His name? Of course it’s Mr Howard Carter, the discoverer of the glorious tomb of Ancient pharaoh Tutankhamun. In part one we cover his childhood and early career. How did this son of an artist from Swaffham, Norfolk, end up in the necropolises of Egypt? Along the way we hear about the lost treasures of Didlington Hall, Egyptomania, and the rather suspect phenomenon of mummy unwrapping parties.

It’s Christmas Eve and time for the last advent episode - a spooky tale of a remote and isolated farmstead with a murky past. Happy Christmas to all our listeners, see you in 2024!

It’s time for the third advent episode, and in some ways it’s a cautionary tale about the perils of day drinking. One morning in the village of Doddington, farm workers were surprised to come across a man, naked and bloody among their ploughs. A strange find indeed. But the story that the man had to tell was stranger still…

It’s Advent Sunday no. 2 and time for one of the titans of East Anglian folklore - Black Shuck himself! The phantom devil hound bounds about the countryside, terrifying all who see him with his slavering jaws and blazing eyes. And what of Shuck’s smaller and more mournful relative, the Shug Monkey? We shall hear about him too.

Image of Blythburgh church door from Spencer Means on Flickr. Used under terms of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed.

The first of our Sunday advent episodes is here! And what better way to count down to Christmas than to hear about a grisly explosion that happened in the middle of the summer. In July 1943, the town of Rayleigh in Essex was shocked when a loud kaboom! broke the peace of the day. At the source of the explosion, all that could be seen was a mangled pile of metal and flesh. What on earth had happened?

27th October heralded our third live show at the Museum of Cambridge. The topic was a short history of Cambridge Castle, Castle Mound, and the Cambridge gaol that stood on the site for many years. Discussion ranged all over the place: Cromwell, pease pudding, long drop vs short drop hangings, masonry, and much more. We also covered the stories of some of the most notorious criminals to be incarcerated in the old and new prisons, so expect the usual servings of arsenic, arson, and arseing about.

The image shows Cambridge Castle gateway in June 1841.

A ghost that is also a witch? It must be Hallowe’en! October 1944 brought a cluster of strange goings on to the Essex village of Great Leighs. Clocks losing time, rabbits with eggs, and all sorts of troublesome behaviour in the guest bedroom of the St Anne’s Castle pub. Locals blame the disturbance of a large boulder on nearby Scrapfaggot Green. It’s a media frenzy, and even Time Magazine is running the story!

Image credit: Courtesy Bryce Canyon National Park, Photographer Maurice Cope, Museum Catalog Number BRCA 532/001-#439

Burnham Market, 1835. The folk of this North Norfolk village were shocked by a series of mysterious deaths as one by one, the residents of a row of a trio of cottages began to sicken and perish. Was it cholera, or something more sinister? Spoiler: it wasn’t cholera. But in that case, what had brought these people to their untimely ends? And was there any connection between these deaths and a murder trial that had taken place in nearby Wighton three years earlier?