Podcast appearances and mentions of River Tyne

What legacy are you leaving? Do you ever wonder when you look at a beautiful tree who may have taken the time to plant it and why, some serious food for thought right there. This week we talk about a finishing time serious incident at Bondi and we reflect on our time in Newcastle, England when we joined our friends to promote water safety on the Quayside of the River Tyne two years ago this week. Enjoy this week's catch up with Leigh & Maxi.

In this, the third of three dedicated episodes to women in maritime, Cecilia Rose speaks to Dr Nina Baker and Dr Antony Firth about women shipbuilders on the River Clyde and the River Tyne, as part of the ‘Rewriting Women into Maritime History' project. Dr Nina Baker is an independent researcher who works on the history of women in engineering, focusing on the Clyde in Glasgow, whilst Dr Antony Firth, the head of Marine Strategy at Historic England, is organising an exhibition about women shipbuilders on the River Tyne. We learn more about these related research projects and how we can all get involved! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Originally released for Patreons in February, I hope you enjoy this very special episode. In 1839 work commenced to build a tunnel over two miles long beneath the streets of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north east of England, this was to get coal to the River Tyne. In later years it would provide shelter to the people of the city during German bombing raids during World War 2. It was then left empty, abandoned, and forgotten, before the damp, dark, eerie tunnel was reopened as a historic visitor attraction in more recent years. Since reopening however, what it clear is that the tunnel wasn't as empty as it first seemed, as the ghosts of the past remained underground. Waiting. Shadows are seen, talking is heard, and even a deep, unmistakable growl.   But what would be lying in wait for me, when I led my small team into this unwelcoming Victoria Tunnel after dark?   To get episodes such as this sooner, you can become a Patreon for £3 a month, and get yourself early access to episodes, and more exclusive episodes where Rob will conduct ghost hunts and you'll hear the audio from the night.  To sign up visit https://patreon.com/HowHauntedPod   Perhaps you'd rather buy me a coffee to make a one off donation to support the pod, you can do that at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/HowHauntedPod   Find out more about the pod at https://www.how-haunted.com and you can email Rob at Rob@how-haunted.com   Background music included in this episode includes: Horror Story https://youtu.be/VebaguxUJWE   Music in this episode includes: "Darren Curtis - Demented Nightmare" https://youtu.be/g_O4kS9FP3k   " HORROR PIANO MUSIC " composed and produced by "Vivek Abhishek" Music link : https://youtu.be/xbjuAGgk5lU SUBSCRIBE us on YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/DQQmmCl8crQ Follow on Facebook: https://bit.ly/33RWRtP Follow on Instagram: https://bit.ly/2ImU2JV

In 1839 work commenced to build a tunnel over two miles long beneath the streets of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north east of England, this was to get coal to the River Tyne. In later years it would provide shelter to the people of the city during German bombing raids during World War 2. It was then left empty, abandoned, and forgotten, before the damp, dark, eerie tunnel was reopened as a historic visitor attraction in more recent years.   Since reopening however, what it clear is that the tunnel wasn't as empty as it first seemed, as the ghosts of the past remained underground. Waiting. Shadows are seen, talking is heard, and even a deep, unmistakable growl.   But what would be lying in wait for me, when I led my small team into this unwelcoming Victoria Tunnel after dark?   Get access to the full episode right now at https://www.patreon.com/howhauntedpod.   Find out more about the pod at https://www.how-haunted.com and you can email Rob at Rob@how-haunted.com   Background music included in this episode includes: Horror Story https://youtu.be/VebaguxUJWE   Music in this episode includes: "Darren Curtis - Demented Nightmare" https://youtu.be/g_O4kS9FP3k   " HORROR PIANO MUSIC " composed and produced by "Vivek Abhishek" Music link : https://youtu.be/xbjuAGgk5lU SUBSCRIBE us on YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/DQQmmCl8crQ Follow on Facebook: https://bit.ly/33RWRtP Follow on Instagram: https://bit.ly/2ImU2JV

Jules, Luke and Jim jump into the pocket of big Carabao for a bonus Ramble! Seriously though, why is the River Tyne so green and fizzy today?Elsewhere, Everton are in talks with Big Sam – seriously – and we find out that referees might be about to get a new card. Plus, the narrative couldn't be stronger north of the border: a sixth-tier team whose owner makes Scotch pies beating Aberdeen. Vintage fitba. Tweet us @FootballRamble and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive live events, ad-free Rambles, full video episodes and loads more: patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sir Graham Wylie is a successful self-made businessman with a background in software development who had a dream to develop a golf facility in his home town of Newcastle, England. In 2004 the first steps were taken to secure Close House – an old estate some four miles from Newcastle on the banks of the River Tyne.  The property featured a deteriorating mansion house first built in 1779, and was in the ownership of Newcastle University. Sir Graham bought the property, retained land for the use of the university sports teams, and then set about buying additional land to develop a new course known as the Colt Course – a top 100 golf course that opened in May 2011 and went on to host the 2017 and 2020 British Masters.  Represented on the world stage by touring professional Lee Westwood, Close House is now a 45-hole facility with a modern clubhouse, full length driving range, on-site accommodation, a thriving membership. Hear now how Close House was developed by an owner passionate about creating a first-class golf facility.

This week we are setting sail for the Roman province of Britannia to traverse the empire's north-western frontier – Hadrian's Wall.  Hadrian's Wall is the largest archaeological feature remaining from Roman Britain, a 73-mile line of fortifications stretching from the River Tyne on the east coast to the Solway Firth on the west. Building was begun by the Emperor Hadrian in 122 AD, during a visit to this remote, unruly corner of his empire. Astonishingly, only five percent has been excavated to date, so new finds and evidence are unearthed surprisingly often. In this episode we follow in the footsteps of a brilliant young general making his way from Rome to Britain to take up his post as governor of this outpost of the empire in 130AD. Our navigator is Bronwen Riley, a historian who traced this journey in her rigorously researched yet highly readable book, Journey to Britannia. She brings life in the second century into vivid focus by taking us to the dodgy quayside bars of Antica Ostia where the snacks were questionable and the wine was liberally watered down and into the private thoughts of Dutch soldiers on Hadrian's Wall desperate for a taste of home. Bronwen Riley is a writer, editor and deviser of historical and literary journeys in Britain, Byzantium and beyond. She has a special interest in the Classical world and in Romania, both life-long passions. She is a director of the Transylvanian Book Festival (transylvanianbookfestival.com). Read more about her creative writing project with the Romanians on Hadrian's Wall at bronwenriley.co.uk/dacians-on-the-wall. Her latest book Journey to Britannia from the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall AD130 (Head of Zeus) is now out in paperback. This episode is sponsored by ACE Cultural Tours, the oldest and most experienced provider of study tours and cultural travel in the United Kingdom. Find out more via their website at www.aceculturaltours.co.uk or speak to their friendly team on 01223 841055. Show Notes Scene One: July 130 AD. Severus and Minicius Natalis prepare to leave Rome, they visit relatives and plan for the long months ahead on the road and in their new lives in Britain.  Scene Two: October 130 AD. On one of his many peregrinations around the empire, Hadrian visits Egypt (holiday hotspot of the ancient world) with a vast entourage including both his wife and his lover, travelling in unparalleled style and luxury on a ship with purple sails (probably). Scene Three: 130 AD. Severus reaches Britain and begins his journey northwards taking in the major cities and camps along the way, meeting officials and inspecting his soldiers.  Momento: A souvenir cup from Hadrian's Wall in all its enamelled glory but also would love to visit a bookshop to see if some Greek antiquary/interpreter has transcribed any British poetry or Druidic philosophy! People/Social Presenter: Violet Moller Guest: Bronwen Riley Production: Maria Nolan Podcast partner: Unseen Histories Follow us on Twitter: @tttpodcast_ Or on Facebook See where 130 AD fits on our Timeline   

In this week's episode we pay tribute to Shane Warne and remember some of his amazing feats with the Australian Cricket team. We also discuss the exciting start to the Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, and Tony laments Manchester United's derby defeat to local rivals City. Our guest this week is Phil Kite. He tells us about taking up rowing later in life and progressing from rowing along the River Tyne to setting a world record in crossing the Atlantic, and the planning of his latest adventure as part of the team attempting to be the first to row the 3,700km North West Passage from Canada to Alaska through the Arctic Ocean.

Chris Fryer and his wife Sarah founded the plant-powered pie company in 2018 on the banks of the River Tyne from their converted horsebox. The couple were getting tired of their careers; Chris was a full-time teacher, while Sarah was a medical secretary. After a year of experimenting with different flavours and recipes in their kitchen, the Fryers launched Magpye - a vegan pie company specialising in comfort food.When the pandemic hit and Magpye grew, Chris purchased a domain name from GoDaddy and began to build an online store for Magpye, with the view of eventually creating an online arm to the company. But with global events taking a turn for the worst, this move had to come a little quicker than planned. Today Chris and Sarah can rely on Magpye as their sole income, as they have grown the business into a national success.In this episode of PEP Talk we hear all about Chris' story of transitioning from a teacher to a full time vegan pie brand owner, and he shares with us what he has learned in the process of growing a small business and taking it online to achieve national success.“The biggest thing that you put in I think is your time and hard work. Initially, for around the first year you don't see much back, we didn't sell a single pie for 10 months. You've got to have that vision to see that at some point it will turn into something.”Topics:How he started MagpyeNot making a sale for 10 monthsInitial fundingCrowdfundingBuilding a communityPivoting in difficult timesHow they targeted vegans (market strategy)Building a teamChris Fryer: https://magpye.co.uk/Powered By GoDaddy UK:https://www.godaddy.com/en-ukSponsored By Tailor Brands:https://tailorbrands.go2cloud.org/SH5U

Michael Bridges is sitting by the River Tyne and Thomas is rugged up in Denmark, but with Claudes, the lads press on with the GegenPod for another week!This week the guys hit the big topics including:Ralf Rangnick starts with a win & a very different style of play, all in one dayNewcastle break their duck after 15 matches - a first-hand account of the atmosphere at St. James' ParkCan Spurs make the top four?Mourinho lost at home for only 2nd time in his Serie A career - what was done to thwart him?Aaaand they hit the slightly smaller topics, like:Who is the fittest player the boys ever played with (and why on earth did Michael Bridges choose Michael Bridges!?)The yarn about Premier League footballers getting free McDonald's whenever they wanted! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

BBC Radio Newcastle's Matthew Raisbeck joins Andrew Musgrove to discuss all things Newcastle United. The pair discuss the takeover, the last six weeks of new ownership, the arrival of Eddie Howe, the challenge ahead for the new coach plus what needs instant improvement. We also hear from Steven Taylor and Shay Given as well as Geordie singer Junior Turner about his single Banks of the River Tyne - of which a copy, signed by Howe, is being auctioned off for the NUFC Fans Foodbank. You can find the auction here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324877037413?mkevt=1&mkcid=16&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

'Reading this book for the second time' ***** Reader Review 1965 - the heyday of Rock & Roll. Northern Lights are tipped to become as big as The Beatles. But after a gig in Newcastle, lead singer and creative genius, Gerry Crowther, vanishes into the foggy night. Later, his body is recovered from the River Tyne. Now, almost twenty years on, teen singing sensation Trudi Bell dominates the charts. As she prepares to release a new album, her manager Lew Pattison receives a demo tape from an unknown songwriter. Realising the music is unmistakeably the work of Gerry Crowther, Lew enlists the help of Adam and Eve to uncover the truth. But some people will stop at nothing to keep it buried . . . Vanishing Act is the third instalment in Bill Kitson's chilling and suspenseful Eden House mystery series. Perfect for fans of Peter James's Cold Hill series, Val McDermid and J M Dalgliesh. Readers are hooked on The Eden House Mysteries: 'I couldn't sleep until I had finished this book' ***** Reader Review 'The best book I have read in a while' ***** Reader Review 'Captivating from start to finish. Brilliant page turner. I couldn't put it down' ***** Reader Review 'Read the whole thing in a day' ***** Reader Review 'One of the best authors I have come across' ***** Reader Review 'More twists than a corkscrew' ***** Reader Review 'The characters are brilliant and the story keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Would highly recommendthis book!' ***** Reader Review

In this week's episode, the boys travel up the River Tyne crossing into the home of the Toon, to sample an institution in Newcastle Brown Ale. In the Hop Topic, we discuss the brewery, Young Henry's, efforts to combat climate change by adding algae to their brewing process.Be sure to follow Newcastle Brown Ale

Ho'way man! It's time to gan 'yem hinny. Andy, who grew up in the North East, first watched the series half his lifetime ago, aged 24, while Martin enjoys it for the very first time. They both agree however that 'Our Friends' is a stone-cold classic. Because there was just too much to say about this phenomenal series we've divided our episode on Peter Flannery's epic award-winning drama about love, politics, police corruption, and housing policy, into two parts. In this first part we discuss the four leading characters: idealistic Nicky (Christopher Eccleston), long-suffering Mary (Gina McKee), troubled Geordie (Daniel Craig) and flawed dreamer Tosker (Mark Strong). We also share our favourite moments and plotlines from the first five episodes which were set between 1964 and 1974. Next time we'll cover 1979 onwards. We don't always find this watch of Our Friends a comfortable experience with it's vivid depiction of corruption, self-serving Tories, and self-defeating Labour factionalism, all of which underline that very little has changed here in the UK. However, at the same time we absolutely revel in the series' ambition, complex characters, and intricate plotting. The soundtrack is pretty awesome too. "I'm coming home Newcastle. You can keep yer London wine. I'd walk the streets al day al neet, for a bottle of the River Tyne." Next Time: Our Friends in the North - Part 2 (1979-1995)

Newcastle upon Tyne - EnglandNewcastle upon Tyne, often shortened to simply Newcastle, is a city in Tyne and Wear, England. Located on the northern bank of the River Tyne, it is 8.5 mi from the North Sea. Newcastle is the most populous city in North East England and forms the core of the Tyneside conurbation, the eighth most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. It is a member of the UK Core Cities Group, as well as the Eurocities network of European cities. It was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it became a county of itself, a status it retained until becoming part of Tyne and Wear in 1974. One of most iconic cities in Britain, famous for it's industrial heritage, brown ale, popular night life and distinctive Geordie accent.This Episode contains the Hometown Murder Cases of:Mary Flora Bell (born 26 May 1957) is an English woman who, as a child aged 10–11 in 1968, strangled to death two young boys in Scotswood, a district in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne. She was convicted in December 1968 of the manslaughter of Martin Brown (aged 4) and Brian Howe (aged 3).Since her release from prison in 1980, she has lived under a series of pseudonyms. Her identity has been protected by a court order, which has also been extended to protect the identity of her daughter. In 1998, Bell collaborated with Gitta Sereny on an account of her life, in which she details the abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her prostitute mother and her clientsMary Ann Cotton (née Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English serial killer, convicted of, and hanged for, the murder by poisoning of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton. It is likely that she murdered three of her four husbands, apparently in order to collect on their insurance policies, and many others. She may have murdered as many as 21 people, including 11 of her 13 children. She chiefly used arsenic poisoning, causing gastric pain and rapid decline of health.The one-armed bandit murder was a criminal case in the north east of England. The case involved the murder of Angus Sibbet in 1967. The following trial resulted in life sentences for Dennis Stafford and Michael Luvaglio. Both men were released on license 12 years later.

From 1984 until 1992 five National Garden Festivals were held in UK. One of them was in Gateshead in 1990. It lasted 157 days across that summer and received over three million visitors. People loved it and still talk about it today. The Garden Festivals were the idea of UK Conservative environment secretary Michael Heseltine in 1980. They were based on the German post-war Bundesgartenschau concept for reclaiming large areas of derelict land in cities. All the festivals were held in areas that had become derelict and poisonous in the wake of industrial decline. They each cost between £25 - £70 million. I made an edit of TV footage from the Gateshead Garden Festival and put this mix on it as a soundtrack. If anything the original footage is weirder than my edit. It presents a very strange world; giant inflatable Jonathan Swift characters, Civil War/Norman conquest re-enactors, Native Americans banging drums, Baphomet sculptures in amongst the begonias and what look like South Sea islanders with no clothes on playing cricket in front of Gateshead OAPS. A giant space ship was also situated near the banks of the River Tyne, It invited people on board for MISSION:TYNE & WEAR and experience a flight into the stars complete with adapted flight simulator hydraulics and night club lighting. The whole festival looks brilliant. You can watch the film here >>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OinAh76S6BE&t=644s The garden festival itself is presented like some mad dream and in some ways it is. The festivals were produced to encourage global business into areas that were in steep decline. For Gateshead it was hoped the site would be occupied by Japanese and European technological companies. But it never happened and the land that the festival used remained empty for the next 10 years. The area around the River Team, a once highly toxic tributary of the River Tyne, got redeveloped into a nature park and in 2002 the festival site ended up having expensive Scandinavian inspired houses built on it designed by the Red or Dead fashion designer Wayne Hemingway. You can still trace the pathways of the Garden Festival as you walk along the River Team today. If you look closely too, in amongst the empty bottles of white cider, discarded laptops, torn suitcases, condoms and nitrous oxide bulbs you'll find remnants of the festival's sculptures and the foundations of the mad caterpillar monorail. It's become an eerie interzone that makes the footage of the Garden Festival seem all the more unreal. MM

From the region's coal mines to keel boats plying the mighty River Tyne and ships on the hunt for precious whale oil, shanties eased and animated working life in England's Northeast for centuries. Host Neil McQuillian heads up to Newcastle for a dose of salty sea-shanty culture, meeting a couple of guardians of this bawdy, moving and always rousing oral culture. Thanks to our producers Femi Oriogun-Williams and Alannah Chance of Reduced Listening (reducedlistening.co.uk).

Visit the “mother town” of The Potteries and the last working coal staiths on the River Tyne, which is now a haven for wildlife. Host Dr Suzannah Lipscomb continues the journey through the 100 Places which have made England the country it is today with the top 10 Industry, Trade & Commerce places. The 100 places featured in this series have been nominated by the public and chosen by a panel of judges. Irreplaceable: A History of England in 100 Places is a Historic England podcast, sponsored by specialist insurer Ecclesiastical ecclesiastical.com

With Rev. Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir, John Torode on MasterChef and how travel has inspired his cooking, Simon Mayo shares his Inheritance Tracks, Milad Shadrooh reveals how he became The Singing Dentist, psychologist Janina Scarlet on how superheroes changed her life and enabled her to help others. Mandy Coppin breaks off from organising the largest number of light aircraft to fly the River Tyne, plus JP Devlin meets listener and Tetbury WoolSack Racer Lucy Collins. John Torode's book Sydney To Seoul: Recipes from my travels in Australia and the Far East is out on the 31st May. Fly The Tyne is happening from around 1.30pm on 26th May. The Tetbury WoolSack Races is on Bank Holiday Monday. Simon Mayo chose The Nightmare Song 'Love unrequited robs me of my rest' from Iolanthe by Gilbert and Sullivan and Graceland by Paul Simon. Janina Scarlet's book Therapy Quest is out now. Producer: Claire Bartleet Editor: Eleanor Garland.

Professor Sir John Burn, has made Newcastle on Tyne a centre for research on genetics and disease. He was one of the first British doctors to champion the study of genes in medicine back in the 1980s. More recently his research with families with a propensity to develop certain cancers has shown the benefits of taking aspirin as a prevention against the disease. John Burn was part of the team that set up the Centre for Life on derelict industrial land near the River Tyne, where the public can watch research in action. It now attracts a quarter of a million visitors each year to its public science centre. John Burn was knighted for services to medicine in 2010 and was one of first 20 'local heroes' to have a brass plaque on Newcastle Quayside in 2014, alongside Cardinal Hume, Alan Shearer and Ant and Dec.

The North East of England's Case for Culture is a bold plan to raise £300 million for art projects. Instead of being an adjunct to development culture is seen as the key to the region's redevelopment. But only a few years ago Newcastle cut its arts budget entirely. Organisations are exploring new ways of working. Jim Beirne of Live Theatre takes John Wilson to the pub the theatre runs, the profits of which pay for a new play every year. It also owns restaurants and prime office space, to fund its theatre and outreach projects. The Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell has just launched a new organisation, Magnetic North East, to foster the identity, music and traditions of the North East. It has released an album of songs and tunes, new and old, about the River Tyne, by artists ranging from Jimmy Nail to the Unthanks. Last Friday it held a grand concert in the region's village hall - Auditorium One of The Sage, featuring famous North East artists such as Paul Smith of the band Maximo Park, young folk musicians and a host of children giving a world premiere of a work by David Almond.Kathryn Tickell, John Mowbray - the High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear, and a prime mover in the Case for Culture, David Almond, who wrote Skellig, the Olivier Award winning playwright, Shelagh Stephenson, whose new play is set in her hometown of Tynemouth, all contribute to John Wilson's exploration, as he rambles around Newcastle, of the role of art in the regeneration of the North East of England.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May.

Rivers are at the heart of defining the identity and lifestyle of many cities around the world, and that is nowhere stronger than in Newcastle on Tyne in the Northeast of England on the banks of the River Tyne. The people who live on the banks of the Tyne are fiercely proud of their river. Once the river was an industrial powerhouse of the British Empire, and by the 1880s the Port of Tyne exported the most coal in the world, and the river was amongst the world's largest shipbuilding and ship-repairing centres. There has been much consideration of how the River Tyne has shaped Tyneside and Tynesiders, but very little appreciation of the enormous extent to which people have shaped the river. To bear out this invisible history of the river, historian Leona Skelton, a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant at the University of Bristol, has worked on a research project that challenges us to think from a river’s perspective and to include in our river histories the flow pathways which rivers ‘wanted’ to follow, regardless of the changes that humans have forged upon the river. On episode 69 of the Exploring Environmental History Podcast Leona challenges us to look at a river as an historical actor with its own agency. Leona’s Research was part of the British Arts and Humanities Research Council funded environmental history initiative “The Power and the Water: Connecting Pasts with Futures”, that focuses on environmental connectivities that have emerged in Britain since industrialisation. Music credits "So Cold" by @nop, available from ccMixter "Clash" by zorza, available from ccMixter "Healing" by Stefan Kartenberg, available from ccMixter

Paul Younger, Rankine Professor of Energy Engineering at the University of Glasgow, in conversation with Jim al-Khalili in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. Paul Younger's future career was inspired by the hills around him near the River Tyne. From a background in geology he now carries out research into, as he says, "keeping the lights on and keeping homes and businesses warm whilst de-carbonising our energy systems." He spent many years at the University of Newcastle, where he built up his expertise in the relationship between water and rocks. He has advised on how to clean up the highly polluted water left in mines after they are closed - from the North East to Bolivia. His knowledge of the rocks beneath our feet has lead him to investigating how we might use more geothermal energy in the future. Paul Younger tells Jim al-Khalili about the experimental holes that have been drilled in County Durham and central Newcastle, and explains why these projects are now mothballed. And Professor Younger also talks about his research into other unconventional ways of generating energy - such as turning coal deep underground into gas.

In 1951 pitman-turned-novelist Sid Chaplin was commissioned to write The Lakes to Tyneside, one of 13 guides to the UK’s regions to mark the Festival of Britain. In 2014, Michael Chaplin was commissioned by Durham Book Festival to follow in his father’s footsteps, undertaking seven contrasting walks, starting on Holy Island and finishing in Durham. Michael's book recording his walk is available to buy from the New Writing North website at http://www.shop.newwritingnorth.com/there-is-a-green-hill-d402338.html. There is a Green Hill and Tyne View, Michael Chaplin's exploration of the River Tyne, are both available to buy in the New Writing North shop and make ideal Christmas presents for the North Easterner in your life. Buy both books for the special price of £18.

Start the Week is at the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival in Gateshead. Anne McElvoy talks to the historian Catherine Merridale about the Kremlin - a Russian fortress which has retained its original medieval function to intimidate and control, and which holds a special place in the imagination. Few buildings in England inspire such fear, but Simon Thurley explores how the country's architecture has influenced the world. The Newcastle-born writer Michael Chaplin looks to the history of the River Tyne to understand the changing fortunes of the city and its population; and the Indian writer Amit Chaudhuri attempts to save the remnants of Calcutta's colonial past under its ever-changing skyline. Producer: Katy Hickman.

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Hadrian's Wall, the largest Roman structure and one of the most important archaeological monuments in Britain. Stretching for eighty miles from the mouth of the River Tyne to the Solway Firth and classified today as a World Heritage Site, it has been a source of fascination ever since it came into existence. It was built in about 122 AD by the Emperor Hadrian, and a substantial part of it still survives today. Although its construction must have entailed huge cost and labour, the Romans abandoned it within twenty years, deciding to build the Antonine Wall further north instead. Even after more than a century of excavations, many mysteries still surround Hadrian's Wall, including its exact purpose. Did it have a meaningful defensive role or was it mainly a powerful emperor's vanity project? With: Greg Woolf Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews David Breeze Former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland and Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the University of Durham Lindsay Allason-Jones Former Reader in Roman Material Culture at the University of Newcastle Producer: Victoria Brignell.

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Hadrian's Wall, the largest Roman structure and one of the most important archaeological monuments in Britain. Stretching for eighty miles from the mouth of the River Tyne to the Solway Firth and classified today as a World Heritage Site, it has been a source of fascination ever since it came into existence. It was built in about 122 AD by the Emperor Hadrian, and a substantial part of it still survives today. Although its construction must have entailed huge cost and labour, the Romans abandoned it within twenty years, deciding to build the Antonine Wall further north instead. Even after more than a century of excavations, many mysteries still surround Hadrian's Wall, including its exact purpose. Did it have a meaningful defensive role or was it mainly a powerful emperor's vanity project? With: Greg Woolf Professor of Ancient History at the University of St AndrewsDavid Breeze Former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland and Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the University of DurhamLindsay Allason-Jones Former Reader in Roman Material Culture at the University of NewcastleProducer: Victoria Brignell.

My grandfather joined up when the Second World War broke out, but he was soon returned to civvy street as he was much more valuable employing his mechanic’s skills to fight the Nazis from a factory in Newcastle. He ended up making the parts of the spot lights that were used to guide anti-aircraft batteries (and my grandmother made parachutes, just over the River Tyne in Gateshead). Although this was not half as exciting to find out about as a young boy as discovering that he was in fact a Commando or part of the Long Range Desert Group, what my grandfather was part of was vital to the defeat of Nazism. In his excellent book, Britain’s War Machine: Weapons, Resources and Experts in the Second World War (Oxford University Press, 2011), David Edgerton is all about this crucial non-military part of Britain’s war with Germany, and it sets about challenges perceptions almost from the front page. His argument is that Britain was actually far more able and well resourced than commonly thought. It entered the war as the richest per-capita nation in the world, a ‘world island’ interconnected with markets across the globe. It had industry and it had a formidable military. Even after France fell, Britain still had its empire to fall back on, and that is before the economic (and then military) assistance of the USA is taken into account. It had the luxury of fighting a war that it was comfortable with, through Bomber Command and in North Africa and the Mediterranean: not for Britain the mass bloodshed that characterized the Eastern Front. Even by the end of the war, an exhausted Britain was still in enviable shape, although – especially in comparison to the USA – it did not seem to be. The book is full of fascinating information, facts and arguments. I did not realize that (again, contrary to accepted opinion) British tanks were actually extremely highly rated, or that British units were extremely well equipped with armour. The bombing campaign was extremely well suited to statistical analysis. In 1939 the Admiralty was sent around a thousand letters a day from garden-shed inventors, each promising that his amateur tinkering had produced an invention that might win the war against the Germans. I also appreciated that this book explained to me exactly how my grandfather (and grandmother) had done so much to win the war, without having to fire a shot. It was not risk free: I remember my grandfather telling me how a bomb had scored a direct hit on the factory’s toilet, just after one of his colleagues had disappeared inside with his morning newspaper. But it was also vital, and I thoroughly recommend the book, especially to those who want to know a little bit more about how war was fought, beyond the simple matter of bullets and blood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My grandfather joined up when the Second World War broke out, but he was soon returned to civvy street as he was much more valuable employing his mechanic’s skills to fight the Nazis from a factory in Newcastle. He ended up making the parts of the spot lights that were used to guide anti-aircraft batteries (and my grandmother made parachutes, just over the River Tyne in Gateshead). Although this was not half as exciting to find out about as a young boy as discovering that he was in fact a Commando or part of the Long Range Desert Group, what my grandfather was part of was vital to the defeat of Nazism. In his excellent book, Britain’s War Machine: Weapons, Resources and Experts in the Second World War (Oxford University Press, 2011), David Edgerton is all about this crucial non-military part of Britain’s war with Germany, and it sets about challenges perceptions almost from the front page. His argument is that Britain was actually far more able and well resourced than commonly thought. It entered the war as the richest per-capita nation in the world, a ‘world island’ interconnected with markets across the globe. It had industry and it had a formidable military. Even after France fell, Britain still had its empire to fall back on, and that is before the economic (and then military) assistance of the USA is taken into account. It had the luxury of fighting a war that it was comfortable with, through Bomber Command and in North Africa and the Mediterranean: not for Britain the mass bloodshed that characterized the Eastern Front. Even by the end of the war, an exhausted Britain was still in enviable shape, although – especially in comparison to the USA – it did not seem to be. The book is full of fascinating information, facts and arguments. I did not realize that (again, contrary to accepted opinion) British tanks were actually extremely highly rated, or that British units were extremely well equipped with armour. The bombing campaign was extremely well suited to statistical analysis. In 1939 the Admiralty was sent around a thousand letters a day from garden-shed inventors, each promising that his amateur tinkering had produced an invention that might win the war against the Germans. I also appreciated that this book explained to me exactly how my grandfather (and grandmother) had done so much to win the war, without having to fire a shot. It was not risk free: I remember my grandfather telling me how a bomb had scored a direct hit on the factory’s toilet, just after one of his colleagues had disappeared inside with his morning newspaper. But it was also vital, and I thoroughly recommend the book, especially to those who want to know a little bit more about how war was fought, beyond the simple matter of bullets and blood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My grandfather joined up when the Second World War broke out, but he was soon returned to civvy street as he was much more valuable employing his mechanic’s skills to fight the Nazis from a factory in Newcastle. He ended up making the parts of the spot lights that were used to guide anti-aircraft batteries (and my grandmother made parachutes, just over the River Tyne in Gateshead). Although this was not half as exciting to find out about as a young boy as discovering that he was in fact a Commando or part of the Long Range Desert Group, what my grandfather was part of was vital to the defeat of Nazism. In his excellent book, Britain’s War Machine: Weapons, Resources and Experts in the Second World War (Oxford University Press, 2011), David Edgerton is all about this crucial non-military part of Britain’s war with Germany, and it sets about challenges perceptions almost from the front page. His argument is that Britain was actually far more able and well resourced than commonly thought. It entered the war as the richest per-capita nation in the world, a ‘world island’ interconnected with markets across the globe. It had industry and it had a formidable military. Even after France fell, Britain still had its empire to fall back on, and that is before the economic (and then military) assistance of the USA is taken into account. It had the luxury of fighting a war that it was comfortable with, through Bomber Command and in North Africa and the Mediterranean: not for Britain the mass bloodshed that characterized the Eastern Front. Even by the end of the war, an exhausted Britain was still in enviable shape, although – especially in comparison to the USA – it did not seem to be. The book is full of fascinating information, facts and arguments. I did not realize that (again, contrary to accepted opinion) British tanks were actually extremely highly rated, or that British units were extremely well equipped with armour. The bombing campaign was extremely well suited to statistical analysis. In 1939 the Admiralty was sent around a thousand letters a day from garden-shed inventors, each promising that his amateur tinkering had produced an invention that might win the war against the Germans. I also appreciated that this book explained to me exactly how my grandfather (and grandmother) had done so much to win the war, without having to fire a shot. It was not risk free: I remember my grandfather telling me how a bomb had scored a direct hit on the factory’s toilet, just after one of his colleagues had disappeared inside with his morning newspaper. But it was also vital, and I thoroughly recommend the book, especially to those who want to know a little bit more about how war was fought, beyond the simple matter of bullets and blood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My grandfather joined up when the Second World War broke out, but he was soon returned to civvy street as he was much more valuable employing his mechanic's skills to fight the Nazis from a factory in Newcastle. He ended up making the parts of the spot lights that were used to guide anti-aircraft batteries (and my grandmother made parachutes, just over the River Tyne in Gateshead). Although this was not half as exciting to find out about as a young boy as discovering that he was in fact a Commando or part of the Long Range Desert Group, what my grandfather was part of was vital to the defeat of Nazism. In his excellent book, Britain's War Machine: Weapons, Resources and Experts in the Second World War (Oxford University Press, 2011), David Edgerton is all about this crucial non-military part of Britain's war with Germany, and it sets about challenges perceptions almost from the front page. His argument is that Britain was actually far more able and well resourced than commonly thought. It entered the war as the richest per-capita nation in the world, a ‘world island' interconnected with markets across the globe. It had industry and it had a formidable military. Even after France fell, Britain still had its empire to fall back on, and that is before the economic (and then military) assistance of the USA is taken into account. It had the luxury of fighting a war that it was comfortable with, through Bomber Command and in North Africa and the Mediterranean: not for Britain the mass bloodshed that characterized the Eastern Front. Even by the end of the war, an exhausted Britain was still in enviable shape, although – especially in comparison to the USA – it did not seem to be. The book is full of fascinating information, facts and arguments. I did not realize that (again, contrary to accepted opinion) British tanks were actually extremely highly rated, or that British units were extremely well equipped with armour. The bombing campaign was extremely well suited to statistical analysis. In 1939 the Admiralty was sent around a thousand letters a day from garden-shed inventors, each promising that his amateur tinkering had produced an invention that might win the war against the Germans. I also appreciated that this book explained to me exactly how my grandfather (and grandmother) had done so much to win the war, without having to fire a shot. It was not risk free: I remember my grandfather telling me how a bomb had scored a direct hit on the factory's toilet, just after one of his colleagues had disappeared inside with his morning newspaper. But it was also vital, and I thoroughly recommend the book, especially to those who want to know a little bit more about how war was fought, beyond the simple matter of bullets and blood.

My grandfather joined up when the Second World War broke out, but he was soon returned to civvy street as he was much more valuable employing his mechanic’s skills to fight the Nazis from a factory in Newcastle. He ended up making the parts of the spot lights that were used to guide anti-aircraft batteries (and my grandmother made parachutes, just over the River Tyne in Gateshead). Although this was not half as exciting to find out about as a young boy as discovering that he was in fact a Commando or part of the Long Range Desert Group, what my grandfather was part of was vital to the defeat of Nazism. In his excellent book, Britain’s War Machine: Weapons, Resources and Experts in the Second World War (Oxford University Press, 2011), David Edgerton is all about this crucial non-military part of Britain’s war with Germany, and it sets about challenges perceptions almost from the front page. His argument is that Britain was actually far more able and well resourced than commonly thought. It entered the war as the richest per-capita nation in the world, a ‘world island’ interconnected with markets across the globe. It had industry and it had a formidable military. Even after France fell, Britain still had its empire to fall back on, and that is before the economic (and then military) assistance of the USA is taken into account. It had the luxury of fighting a war that it was comfortable with, through Bomber Command and in North Africa and the Mediterranean: not for Britain the mass bloodshed that characterized the Eastern Front. Even by the end of the war, an exhausted Britain was still in enviable shape, although – especially in comparison to the USA – it did not seem to be. The book is full of fascinating information, facts and arguments. I did not realize that (again, contrary to accepted opinion) British tanks were actually extremely highly rated, or that British units were extremely well equipped with armour. The bombing campaign was extremely well suited to statistical analysis. In 1939 the Admiralty was sent around a thousand letters a day from garden-shed inventors, each promising that his amateur tinkering had produced an invention that might win the war against the Germans. I also appreciated that this book explained to me exactly how my grandfather (and grandmother) had done so much to win the war, without having to fire a shot. It was not risk free: I remember my grandfather telling me how a bomb had scored a direct hit on the factory’s toilet, just after one of his colleagues had disappeared inside with his morning newspaper. But it was also vital, and I thoroughly recommend the book, especially to those who want to know a little bit more about how war was fought, beyond the simple matter of bullets and blood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A history of the Tyne Pilots, whose specialist knowledge of the River Tyne and navigational skills were required to steer passenger ships from North Sea, up the river Tyne and into port (Broadcast 1978).