THE ENGLISH HERITAGE PODCAST
Every object has a story to tell.
But how can one mystery item lead us on a journey through history, people and places?
In the English Heritage podcast, comedian and writer Amy Matthews brings you entertaining tales from unexpected places. Each week, we begin with a mystery item and with the help of English Heritage experts and special guests, Amy explores what our past can tell us about our present and perhaps our future.
Love tokens from history
Forget roses and chocolates this Valentine’s Day. Lovers from the past set the bar high, with romantic poetry, locks of human hair, beautifully crafted silver and even a new city dedicated to a lost love.
Join Amy Matthews and English Heritage historians and curators for a look at love tokens, secret messages and heartbreak memorials from our sites, to discover how people in the past flirted, mourned, adored and remembered. It turns out that whether it’s a sonnet, a statue or a sentimental keepsake, love has always been messy, meaningful and very human.
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Speaking with shadows
When you’re wandering about a historic place, what voices do you hear echoing off the walls? Are they the ones you learnt about at school – or do you wonder about the shadowy, quiet voices that may have gone unheard?
Travel from 17th-century Northamptonshire, where we hear about the heroic servant who may have become Britain’s first black pub landlord, to wartime Essex, where Polish special forces soldiers trained in secrecy for life or death missions to their homeland.
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