Back When | History Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Introducing Back When, a new history podcast taking you inside the stories of the people, places and moments that made us. Launching 2 April.

Join historians Helen Antrobus and James Grasby for a fly on the wall view of our past. Discover the forgotten story of Britain's space race. Uncover the unsettling history of witches' familiars. And hear the origin story of sci-fi author HG Wells.

Our history is all around us. And we'll be transporting you behind the scenes at landmarks from castles to dance halls and WWII bunkers to workhouses. You’ll meet people from all walks of life whose fascinating stories help us make sense of who we are now. 

Lean in for a tale from time. Back When.

New episodes of Back When are released every fortnight. Follow Back When on your favourite podcast app to make sure you get every story.  

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.
 
[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

Production
Presenter: James Grasby
Producer: Jack Glover
Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Contributors
Laura French (Crossness Engines Trust)

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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

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk

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?
 
[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 
 
Production
Presenter: Helen Antrobus
Producer and sound designer: Nikki Ruck

Contributors 
Paul Carey
Steve Berden
Doug Millard

Cast
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 podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk

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.
 
[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

Production
Presenter: Helen Antrobus
Producer: Jack Glover + Sophie Wilkinson
Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Contributors
Mark Syson-Harvey
Sophie Wilkinson

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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 podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk 

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 

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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 podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk 

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. 

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.

[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

Production
Host: James Grasby
Producer: Jesse Edbrooke
Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez

Discover More
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

VE Day Celebrations at the National Trust
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  
 
If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story idea you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk  

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

Production
Host: Helen Antrobus  
Producer: Michelle Douglass  
Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez 

Contributor
David Gibbins

Discover More: 
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 podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk