Episodes
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Episode 61 - Hilda Cashmore
This week I met with Helen Meller, Professor Emerita of Urban History Nottingham University to discuss the life of Hilda Cashmore - the pioneering founder of Bristol’s Barton Hill Settlement – which she established in 1911. Helen describes Hilda Cashmore as a ‘quaker, feminist, educator and…
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Episode 60 - Redating Slavery: Dr Richard Stone on his New Research
This week I met with Dr. Richard Stone, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Bristol, to discuss his recent research on Bristol’s early involvement in the trade in enslaved people. It has conventionally been thought that Bristol merchants began trading in enslaved Africans...
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The Sound Of Saffron by Charlie West - Your Bristol Life Episode 10
Your Bristol Life is back for a second series of five podcasts shining a light on underrepresented aspects of Bristol's history. This BCfm series was made with the Bristol Cable, Bristol History Podcast and In The Dark. *** The Sound Of Saffron by Charlie West *** Women, non-binary and trans…
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A Bristol Boy's Disabled Life by Richard Prior - Your Bristol Life Episode 9
Your Bristol Life is back for a second series of five podcasts shining a light on underrepresented aspects of Bristol's history. This BCfm series was made with the Bristol Cable, Bristol History Podcast and In The Dark. *** A Bristol Boy's Disabled Life by Richard Prior *** Local lad Richard…
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A Short History Of Purple Penguin by Peter Hall - Your Bristol Life Episode 8
Your Bristol Life is back for a second series of five podcasts shining a light on underrepresented aspects of Bristol's history. This BCfm series was made with the Bristol Cable, Bristol History Podcast and In The Dark. *** A Short History Of Purple Penguin by Peter Hall *** You have all heard...
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Love Her by Mary Milton - Your Bristol Life Episode 7
Your Bristol Life is back for a second series of five podcasts shining a light on underrepresented aspects of Bristol's history. This BCfm series was made with the Bristol Cable, Bristol History Podcast and In The Dark. *** Love Her by Mary Milton *** “You were in a pub environment, but it was…
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L'Chaim, My Lovers by Tom Chachewitz - Your Bristol Life Episode 6
Your Bristol Life is back for a second series of five podcasts shining a light on underrepresented aspects of Bristol's history. This BCfm series was made with the Bristol Cable, Bristol History Podcast and In The Dark. *** L'Chaim, My Lovers by Tom Chachewitz *** Local artist and writer Tom...
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Episode 59 - Sabrina: Goddess of the River Severn
The Severn is the longest river in the UK and from its source in the Cambrian mountains in mid Wales, it flows down through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire before eventually reaching the Bristol Channel. I met with Nicola Haasz, who has dedicated herself to exploring, collating and...
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Episode 58 - The Postwar Squatting Movement in Bristol
This week I spoke with journalist and author Eugene Byrne to discuss the mass squatting movement that took place in Britain in the aftermath of the Second World War. In the context of a chronic housing shortage across the country, Bristol in the summer of 1946 saw ex-military bases at Purdown and...
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Your Bristol Life Episode 5 - Bianchi's Food Group by Steven Mitchell
Your Bristol Life is a new series of five podcasts shining a light on underrepresented aspects of Bristol's history. This BCfm series was made with the Bristol Cable, Bristol History Podcast and In The Dark. *** Bianchi's Food Group by Steven Mitchell *** During Covid and post-Brexit, food,...
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Your Bristol Life Episode 4 - Old Market (REMIXED) by Tom Marshman and Bernie Hodges
Your Bristol Life is a new series of five podcasts shining a light on underrepresented aspects of Bristol's history. This BCfm series was made with the Bristol Cable, Bristol History Podcast and In The Dark. *** Old Market (REMIXED) by Tom Marshman *** Old Market (REMIXED), written and performed…
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Your Bristol Life Episode 3 - Henrietta Lacks by Daniel Edmund
Your Bristol Life is a new series of five podcasts shining a light on underrepresented aspects of Bristol's history. This BCfm series was made with the Bristol Cable, Bristol History Podcast and In The Dark. *** Henrietta Lacks by Daniel Edmund *** The life-size bronze statue of Henrietta Lacks...
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Your Bristol Life Episode 2 - Skate or Cry by Jazlyn Pinckney
Your Bristol Life is a new series of five podcasts shining a light on underrepresented aspects of Bristol's history. This BCfm series was made with the Bristol Cable, Bristol History Podcast and In The Dark. *** Skate or Cry by Jazlyn Pinckney *** In this audio documentary, five women taking…
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Your Bristol Life Episode 1 - The Bristolian Refugee by Sam Sayer
Your Bristol Life is a new series of five podcasts shining a light on underrepresented aspects of Bristol’s history. This BCfm series was made with the Bristol Cable, Bristol History Podcast and In The Dark. *** The Bristolian Refugee by Sam Sayer *** What is it like to leave your country of…
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Episode 57 - Thomas Chatterton
This week I met with Professor Nick Groom, to discuss the life, work and reputation of the Bristolian poet Thomas Chatterton. Born in Redcliffe in 1752, Chatterton was a precocious talent. In just seventeen years of life he produced a great body of poems, plays, prose works and a collection of...
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Episode 56 - Ann Yearsley
This week I spoke with Brycchan Carey, Professor of English at Northumbria university to discuss the life and work of 18th century Bristolian poet and milkwoman, Ann Yearsley,
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Episode 55 - Hot Air Ballooning: Don Cameron in Conversation
This week I met with ballooning pioneer Don Cameron. We discussed the birth of hot air ballooning in Britain, the fifty-year history of his company - Cameron Balloons, the remarkable rise of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, and touched on some of the extraordinary feats of ballooning…
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Episode 54 - LGBTQ History in Bristol
This week I spoke with Andrew Foyle from Outstories Bristol, a volunteer community history group with an objective to gather, preserve and communicate the stories of LGBTQ people in Bristol and the surrounding area. We discussed some of the stories of LGBT people throughout Bristol’s history from...
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Episode 53 - Slave Wealth and British Industry: the case of Edward Protheroe
This week I spoke with amateur historian Steven Carter to discuss his research on how profits from the slave trade were fed back into British industry. Focussing on Edward Protheroe - a feted coal industrialist in the Forest of Dean in the early 19th century - Steven has traced how a substantial...
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Episode 52 - The Dispensaries: Healthcare in Bristol before the NHS
This week I met with Dr Michael Whitfield to discuss Bristol's dispensaries. For the two hundred years or so before the creation of the NHS in 1948, the dispensaries were one of the main providers of healthcare in Britain, especially for its poorest people. We discussed how the dispensaries...
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Episode 51 - State Surveillance in Bristol and Beyond
This week I spoke with Colin Thomas and Tim Beasley of the Bristol Radical History Group to discuss the history of state surveillance in their pamphlet 'State Snooping - Spooks, Cops and Double Agents'. From the reign of Elizabeth I right up until the present day, the British state has used…
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Episode 50 - The Bristol Blitz
2020 marked the eightieth anniversary of the Bristol Blitz, which saw 77 Nazi air raids on the city, with six major raids taking place in the winter of 1940-41. I spoke with Eugene Byrne of the Bristol Post to discuss the origins of the Blitz and how Bristolians coped with being bombed. We also...
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Episode 49 - Angela Carter and West Country Counterculture in the 1960s and 70s
Angela Carter was one of the most acclaimed British novelists of the post-war period. She spent the 1960s living in Clifton amidst a flourishing 'provincial bohemia' of folk clubs, artists and radical politics. I met with Dr. Stephen E. Hunt to discuss his work on Angela Carter and the...
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Episode 48 - The Mystery of Princess Caraboo
On Thursday 3 April 1817, in the village of Almondsbury just outside of Bristol, a strangely dressed young woman began attracting the attention of local villagers. In the weeks and months that followed she became a figure of national renown: but was this lady 'Caraboo' really the exotic princess...
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Episode 47 - The Pneumatic Institute in Hotwells
At the end of the eighteenth century, 'pneumatic' (gas) chemistry was at the forefront of scientific knowledge. In 1799 the remarkable physician Thomas Beddoes opened the Pneumatic Institute in Hotwells and set about finding a cure for tuberculosis using gasses isolated from air. I spoke with...
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Episode 46 - Severing the Sinews of Slavery in Bristol
This week I spoke with Mark Steeds and Roger Ball to discuss their new book, 'From Wulfstan to Colston: Severing the Sinews of Slavery in Bristol.' Covering over a thousand years of history, the book charts Bristol's long involvement in trading enslaved human beings. We discussed the two titular...
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Episode 45 - The Bristol Bus Boycott
This week I met with Professor Madge Dresser to discuss the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963. The boycott against the Bristol Omnibus Company over its racist employment policy was the first black-led protest against racial discrimination in post-war Britain. We explored race relations in Bristol…
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Bonus Episode - Colston Falls
A brief bonus podcast with some thoughts on the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston on Sunday 7 June 2020.
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Episode 44 - 'Know Your Place' and Planning in Bristol
This week I spoke with Pete Insole, Historic Environment Officer for Bristol City Council, to discuss the historical mapping tool ‘Know Your Place’. We also talked about the historic development of Bristol and about planning the future of the city.
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Episode 43 - Bristol and the 1918 'Spanish' Flu Pandemic
Arriving at the end of the First World War, the 1918 'Spanish' Flu was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, killing between 40 and 200 million people worldwide. I spoke with journalist and historian Eugene Byrne - we discussed official strategies to combat the spread of the flu, as…
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Episode 42 - Witches and Witchcraft in the West Country
This week I met with Mike Slater, West-Country Occult Historian, to discuss the history of witchcraft in the West Country. We spoke about the continuance of popular belief in magic, long after official witchcraft trials had ceased. We also explored 'witch scratching', the pernicious and…
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Episode 41 - Graffiti and Street Art in Bristol
Nowadays Bristol is internationally known as a centre of graffiti and street art culture. I met with John Nation - pioneer and promoter of graffiti culture and its artists since the early 1980s - to discuss how perceptions of the culture have changed. From being despised as 'vandalism' to hailed…
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Episode 40 - Dr. Edson Burton In Conversation
This week I met with the writer, poet, historian and playwright Dr. Edson Burton. We discussed (among other things) how his historical outlook shapes his cultural work; the legacy of Caribbean migration to Britain and how Brexit plays into wider narratives of place and identity.
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Episode 39 - Election Special: Polling Day in 18th Century Bristol
As we approach December's election, the Bristol History Podcast asks: how did we get here? To this end I spoke with UWE Professor of History and Heritage Steve Poole about what elections in Bristol looked like some 300 years ago.
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Episode 38 - Everyday Life in the Early Modern West Country
History of the late medieval and early modern periods has tended to focus on a small number of people who have left a big dent on the historical record: kings and queens, statesmen and landowners. Most people could tell you something about Henry VIII's wives or his eating habits - but how much do...
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Episode 37 - Natural History of the West Country
This week I met with Joe McSorley of the Avon Wildlife Trust to discuss the natural history of the West Country - from the earliest existing records of animal and plant life in the area, through the ramblings of Victorian naturalists, to today's systematic collection of scientific data. We also...
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Episode 36 - Bristol University and its Historians
This week I met with Dr. John Reeks to discuss Bristol University and its historians. The university was founded in 1909 and dominates much of the landscape of the centre of the city, with almost 24,000 students enrolled in degree courses. We discussed the history of university and the work of…
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Episode 35 - Bristol's Overseas Trade
Bristol was born as a trading hub, and for the best part of a millennium its identity has been bound up with its status as a centre for both national and international trade. I met with Dr Richard Stone, Teaching Fellow in Early Modern History at Bristol University, to discuss the history of...
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Episode 34 - Melissa Chemam in Conversation
This week I met with author and journalist Melissa Chemam to discuss her book 'Out of the Comfort Zone: From Bristol to Massive Attack.' Melissa looks to Bristol's social and political history as a way of understanding its artistic output. We talked about the culture that spawned the music of...
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Episode 33 - Concorde
This week I met with Dr. Keith McLoughlin of Bristol University to discuss the remarkable story of Concorde - the first supersonic passenger aircraft. We discussed the postwar origins of the project; difficulties with financing in the 60s and 70s; and why Concorde retains such a hold over the...
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Episode 32 - Benjamin Dickson in Conversation
This week I met with Bristol-based author and artist Benjamin Dickson to discuss his graphic novel 'A New Jerusalem' - a moving and stark tale of a family struggling to come to terms with life following the end of the Second World War. We discussed (among other things) the bombing of Bristol…
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Episode 31 - Bristol Rugby Club
This week I met with Bristol Bears' Club Historian (and verified superfan) Mark Hoskins to talk all things Bristol Rugby. We discussed the evolution of the club from its origins in the late-Victorian era and its role in the community during the World Wars, through to the pioneering captaincy of...
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Episode 30 - Bristol's Public Memory of Slavery
This week I met with Dr. Jessica Moody of Bristol University to discuss the ways in which Bristol has publicly addressed its involvement in the Transatlantic slave trade. We touched on methods of commemoration (using Liverpool as a point of comparison)and explored some of the reasons behind...
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Episode 29 - Mike Manson in Conversation
This week I met with author, historian and one man Bristolian institution: Mike Manson. In a whistle-stop tour through his literary career we discussed the importance of local history, the differences between writing fiction and writing history, and Mike's exploration of some of the less well…
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Episode 28 - Being Brunel
Being Brunel is one of Bristol's newest and most innovative museums. An addition to the existing SS Great Britain site, it attempts to get behind the myth and into the mind of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of the country's most famous engineers. I visited Being Brunel and spoke with Head of...
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Episode 27 - Bristol and the Civil War
The English Civil War is often reduced to a stereotype of haughty Cavaliers and humourless Roundheads. Yet in reality it was was one of the bloodiest and most disruptive conflicts in our nation's history. I met with Dr. John Reeks of Bristol University to discuss the causes, course and…
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Episode 26 - Lucienne Boyce on History and Historical Fiction
This week I met with acclaimed historian and historical fiction writer, Lucienne Boyce. We discussed the history of the women's suffrage movement in Bristol, the continuities between the 18th century and our present day, and to what degree historical fiction can contribute to historical...
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Episode 25 - Bristol Zoo
As the fifth oldest zoo in the world, Bristol Zoological Gardens has been introducing Bristolians to wild animals since 1836. I met with Dr Andy Flack, Teaching Fellow in Modern History at Bristol University, to discuss the origins of the zoo, its role in civic identity and the extent to which…
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Episode 24 - The Women Who Built Bristol
This week I met with author Jane Duffus, to discuss her new book 'The Women Who Built Bristol'. This work of collective biography tells the story of some 250 women connected with Bristol, ranging from the 12th century to the present day. We discuss the origins of the project, the history of the...
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Episode 23 - Bristol from Below
This week I met with Steve Poole, Professor of History at UWE to discuss his book 'Bristol from Below' (co-authored with Nicholas Rogers). We explore the life of ordinary Bristolians in the long 18th century, discussing - among other things - riots, radicalism, arson and sodomy.
About this show
A podcast dedicated to exploring various aspects of Bristol's history.
Hosted by
Tom Brothwell
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