The BackTracker History Show

The Body in the Chest

Season: 4 Episode: 31

Brian Hocking aged 24, his wife Elizabeth, aged 25 and Norman Bamber were a friendly threesome, then Brian went missing. Gambling, greed, passion and sex were the ingredients to this unbelievable true tale of cold blooded murder.

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show with a donation, however small, you can go to Ko-Fi.com

Some more great news for you, if you were interested in buying merchandise featuring the show’s logo, then pop over to RedBubble, you’ll find lots of things to choose from.

So, thankyou for listening and until next time guys, take care and look after each other.

CONTACT ME

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @BackTrackerUK

Instagram: @backtrackeruk

Twitter: @BackTrackerUK

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SOURCES

Black Kalendar

National Archives

Western Daily Press - Thursday 22 April 1965

Bristol Evening Post - Thursday 08 July 1965

Ancestry (England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995)

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Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2023

The Tragic Death of Leslie Howard

Season: 4 Episode: 30

He starred in one of the most successful movies of all-time and was a world-famous actor.

But Leslie Howard’s glittering career and complex personal life was cut tragically short when he was lost in a mysterious plane crash aged 50, the victim of a suspected Nazi anti-spy attack during WWII. The story only gets more shadowy from there…

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show with a donation, however small, you can go to Ko-Fi.com

Some more great news for you, if you were interested in buying merchandise featuring the show’s logo, then pop over to RedBubble, you’ll find lots of things to choose from.

So, thankyou for listening and until next time guys, take care and look after each other.

CONTACT ME

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @BackTrackerUK

Instagram: @backtrackeruk

Twitter: @BackTrackerUK

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SOURCES

The Guardian 4 June 1943

Obituary Variety, 9 June 1943.

"Notice of Change of Name by Deed Poll" in The London Gazette, Issue 31809 dated 5 March 1920

Aberdeen Press and Journal - Thursday 03 June 1943

The National Archives, London: Leslie Howard's WW1 British Army service file, document order code WO 374/65089, published on 'The Great War Forum.org' website, 4 November 2005.

"Leslie H. Steiner = Ruth E. Martin." GRO Register of Marriages: Colchester, March 1916, 4a 1430.The tragic death of

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Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2023

The Circus Of Varieties

Season: 4 Episode: 29

An unassuming building in the centre of Bristol was host to some of the greatest entertainers Europe had to offer. It was the site of a very popular past time and regularly had major exhibitions and balls. It even played a part in the development of the area's aviation industry, but you wouldn't think it now.

Listen to the story of a building now called 'University Gate', but was famous as 'The Circus of Varieties'.

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show with a donation, however small, you can go to Ko-Fi.com

Some more great news for you, if you were interested in buying merchandise featuring the show’s logo, then pop over to RedBubble, you’ll find lots of things to choose from.

So, thankyou for listening and until next time guys, take care and look after each other.

CONTACT ME

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @BackTrackerUK

Instagram: @backtrackeruk

Twitter: @BackTrackerUK

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SOURCES

Bristol Mercury - Saturday 18 November 1882

Bristol Mercury - Tuesday 16 November 1886

Bristol Mercury - Friday 17 June 1887

Western Daily Press - 15 Feb 1916, Tue · Page 3

Western Daily Press - Tuesday 25 July 1933

Western Daily Press - 04 Jun 1935, Tue · Page 7

Western Daily Press - 02 Dec 1976, Thu · Page 12

David Hewitt - A lawyer and a writer. His latest book – Gold, Violet, Black, Crimson, White – is about another Great War court case, provoked by a silent film many people considered obscene. The book is published by Matador at £11.99

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Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2023

The Unsolved Murder of Gertrude O'Leary

Season: 4 Episode: 28

Gertrude O'Leary had no enemies and very few intimate friends, although she nevertheless had a reputation among her neighbours and those who did business with her as being a kindly and generous woman.

Yet, on 30th July 1949, when the shop was still found to be closed at 10.30pm, her regular customers became worried and called the police. What they discovered shocked Bristol and started a huge, nationwide manhunt.

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show with a donation, however small, you can go to Ko-Fi.com

Some more great news for you, if you were interested in buying merchandise featuring the show’s logo, then pop over to RedBubble, you’ll find lots of things to choose from.

So, thankyou for listening and until next time guys, take care and look after each other.

CONTACT ME

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @BackTrackerUK

Instagram: @backtrackeruk

Twitter: @BackTrackerUK

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SOURCES

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Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2023

Sarah Guppy: The Victorian Female Inventor

Season: 4 Episode: 27

Sarah Guppy achieved amazing things in Bristol back in 1811. Whilst women of the time were expected to be carrying out domestic duties, Sarah Guppy was inventing new products and creating unique designs, including a design for a bridge to cross the River Avon.

Sarah Guppy

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show with a donation, however small, you can go to Ko-Fi.com

Some more great news for you, if you were interested in buying merchandise featuring the show’s logo, then pop over to RedBubble, you’ll find lots of things to choose from.

So, thankyou for listening and until next time guys, take care and look after each other.

CONTACT ME

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @BackTrackerUK

Instagram: @backtrackeruk

Twitter: @BackTrackerUK

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SOURCES

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Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2023

The Dean Lane Pit Disaster

Season: 4 Episode: 26

If you happen to be strolling around Dame Emily Park in Bedminster and you see, by the skate park, a large concrete slab that used to be the base of a bandstand, you may be intrigued to know that it covers the pithead of the Dean Lane Coal Mine. The site of Bristol's worst mining disaster.

It was a normal Friday afternoon and those above ground had no idea what was happening in one of the lower works of the mine. 10 boys and men perished, some the next day, but the effect this would have on the local community would devastating.

Questions were asked, the most pertinent being 'could this have been avoided if you'd listened to us?'

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show with a donation, however small, you can go to Ko-Fi.com

Some more great news for you, if you were interested in buying merchandise featuring the show’s logo, then pop over to RedBubble, you’ll find lots of things to choose from.

So, thankyou for listening and until next time guys, take care and look after each other.

CONTACT ME

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @BackTrackerUK

Instagram: @backtrackeruk

Twitter: @BackTrackerUK

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SOURCES

Bristol Times and Mirror - Saturday 11 September 1886

Western Daily Press - Thursday 16 September 1886

Newcastle Guardian and Silverdale, Chesterton and Audley Chronicle - Saturday 18 September 1886

G. Atterton BHHG

Durham Mining Museum

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Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2023

The Evil in her Eyes

Season: 4 Episode: 25

Noreen O’Connor aged 46, former nurse, was charged with murdering Miss Friederika Alwine Maria Buls, known as Marie aged 77, whose body was found in a bedroom at “Gardeen,” a cottage shared by the two women at Loxton, Somerset. 

They had been living together quite pleasantly for a while. Even after Marie had two strokes, Noreen nursed and cared for her, but on September 1st 1954, something changed that would result in the death of Marie.

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show with a donation, however small, you can go to Ko-Fi.com

Some more great news for you, if you were interested in buying merchandise featuring the show’s logo, then pop over to RedBubble, you’ll find lots of things to choose from.

So, thankyou for listening and until next time guys, take care and look after each other.

CONTACT ME

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @BackTrackerUK

Instagram: @backtrackeruk

Twitter: @BackTrackerUK

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SOURCES

Western Mail - Tuesday 19 October 1954

SomersetLive

Doctors Who Kill: Profiles of Lethal Medics By Carol Anne Davis

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Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2023

The Charitable Railway Ladies

Season: 4 Episode: 24

Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol and was opened on 31 August 1840, as the western terminus of the Great Western Railway. Thousands of Victorians were employed by railway companies, from the locomotive driver on the footplate to the booking clerk in the station. For some of those people working the railways in that labour intensive era and their working conditions were often very dangerous and uncomfortable.

In this episode, we highlight the work of two women involved with the railways. One who made a success of herself in her own right and another who dedicated her life to helping those who worked on the railways.

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show with a donation, however small, you can go to Ko-Fi.com

Some more great news for you, if you were interested in buying merchandise featuring the show’s logo, then pop over to RedBubble, you’ll find lots of things to choose from.

So, thankyou for listening and until next time guys, take care and look after each other.

CONTACT ME

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @BackTrackerUK

Instagram: @backtrackeruk

Twitter: @BackTrackerUK

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SOURCES

Western Daily Press - Monday 28 February 1927

Science Museum Group

Western Daily Press - Monday 21 May 1917

University of Bristol

Arnos Vale

Western Daily Press - Monday 23 July 1917

The Working Class Movement Library

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Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2023

The Legend of Maude's Elm

Season: 4 Episode: 23

A huge elm tree north of Cheltenham was felled in 1906 as it had become so dangerous. It used to be a favourite resting place for the Duchess of Devonshire, but this tree had a terrible origin story. Full of mystery, love and betrayal. This show is about a tale that has become embellished over time to become a local legend.

So what happened at Maude’s Elm?

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show with a donation, however small, you can go to Ko-Fi.com

Some more great news for you, if you were interested in buying merchandise featuring the show’s logo, then pop over to RedBubble, you’ll find lots of things to choose from.

So, thankyou for listening and until next time guys, take care and look after each other.

CONTACT ME

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @BackTrackerUK

Instagram: @backtrackeruk

Twitter: @BackTrackerUK

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SOURCES

Norman's history of Cheltenham By John Goding

Cheltenham Examiner - Wednesday 31 July 1907

Cheltenham Looker-On - Saturday 13 August 1836

Cheltenham Looker-On - Saturday 26 November 1836

The House in the Tree

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Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2023

The Sad and Tragic Life and Death of Alice Woodman

Season: 4 Episode: 22

In their shabby cottage in Cheltenham, Alice Woodman was found with her head nearly severed from her body, and lying by her side was a young man named Sydney George Smith, who was also suffering from a terrible wound in his throat, but what exactly happened? 

THIS PODCAST

This podcast has been specially edited from a Bradley Stoke Radio show in Bristol, England. 

If you liked it please leave a rating and maybe a comment and if you’d like to support the show with a donation, however small, you can go to Ko-Fi.com

Some more great news for you, if you were interested in buying merchandise featuring the show’s logo, then pop over to RedBubble, you’ll find lots of things to choose from.

So, thankyou for listening and until next time guys, take care and look after each other.

CONTACT ME

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: @BackTrackerUK

Instagram: @backtrackeruk

Twitter: @BackTrackerUK

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SOURCES

Cheltenham Chronicle - Saturday 19 December 1903

Cheltenham Chronicle - Saturday 20 February 1904

Framlingham Weekly News - Saturday 20 February 1904

Bradford Daily Telegraph - Wednesday 09 March 1904

British Executions

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Sound Effects by zapsplat.com

Intro music by The Model Folk 

© THE BACKTRACKER HISTORY SHOW 2023