All things spring!
What’s The Story is a brand new podcast produced and presented by The Story’s team of young Volunteers. The team will explore the history of Durham from ghosts to gifts, mining to mysteries and much more.
Episode 6: All things spring!
In this episode our young volunteers discuss their research from The Story’s collections on the theme of spring. Watch now, for an entertaining discussion about Easter gardens, Shrove Tuesday football matches, County Durham native daffodil varieties and much more.
Episode 5: Crime and Punishment: murder and the occasional deforestation!
Our latest episode delves into a dark and grizzly side of County Durham’s history and contains subject matter which some may find distressing. This episode explores Crown Prosecution Service archive material, investigating notable murder cases including that of the infamous Mary Ann Cotton. We also touch on tree related crimes and school punishments in the early 20th Century. Our thanks to Beamish Museum for the loan of Mary Ann Cotton’s teapot and supplying a photograph of the object for our use.
Episode 4: A Christmas Past
In this Christmas special episode, the team discuss the origin of Christmas traditions, including the Christmas cracker, Christmas pudding and mince pies. We also see some Christmas war time memorabilia from the archives and learn some new recipes.
Episode 3: Down the Mines
This episode explores aspects of the rich mining heritage of County Durham using a range of material held in the archives and handling collection at The Story. We discuss the daily life of a miner, art and music influenced by mining, the impact of the ‘category D’ designation on Durham pit villages and play this week’s game – ‘pit pony or phony?’
Episode 2: Legends of County Durham: Halloween special
Episode 2 is about the stories of witches and folklore, with a sprinkle of spooky fun. Perfectly safe for brave kids and curious grown-ups. Our young volunteers delve into all things folklore, superstition, and witchcraft for a Halloween special. We discuss ghost stories and legends of County Durham, and stories of women tried for witchcraft in our region and play a game of superstition ‘Trick or treat’.
Episode 1: Keepsakes and Courage
In our first episode we find out about gifts and letters that were sent and received in WW1, most notably Princess Mary tins and embroidered postcards. The team also delve deep into a collection of love letters held in The Story’s archive, we hear excerpts from the letters, quotes from Princess Mary and we play a game of Tank or No Tank.