In 1848 an image of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children decorating their evergreen, caused a sensation and sparked a Christmas tree trend in Britain.
  
Many people began to bring trees into their homes and decorate them with homemade ornaments, sweet treats and naked candles tied with ribbons.  
  
The Victorians can be credited with inventing our modern Christmas.  In this episode, Clara Woolford, Curator at Cragside in Northumberland, takes us to the mid 1800s to discover how the “Cult of Christmas” and the centrepiece, the Christmas Tree, entered into millions of homes.   

Discover more
See the UK's tallest living Christmas tree, a 42m giant redwood at Cragside, Northumberland:
nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/north-east/cragside/christmas-at-cragside

Read about the history of the Christmas tree:
www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/history/queen-victoria-christmas-tree 

[Ad from our sponsor] This podcast episode is sponsored by family history website Findmypast. What was life like for domestic servants, workers and local communities at our most fascinating heritage sites? Discover how people from all walks of life lived and worked, and who with, in hundreds of census records, for free, by signing up with Findmypast. And find out about the free trial that you could use to explore your family history. See where the past takes you at:

The National Trust Podcast is changing
In spring 2025 we'll be changing the National Trust Podcast to bring you more immersive stories in Nature, History and Adventure. Stay on this stream for our new Nature Podcast The Wild World Of… and look out for our new History podcast Back When. Remember to subscribe or follow either show in your favourite podcast app to be the first to hear new stories when they arrive. 

Production:
Host and producer: Michelle Douglass
Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez

Heritage sites like the medieval palace Bayt Al Razzaz in Egypt and the picturesque Blickling estate in the UK, are under threat from climate change.

What connects these vastly different places? And what can the guardians of these historic treasures learn from each other as they battle extreme weather, social upheaval and other challenges?

Discover the global fight to protect our heritage.

You can watch a video of this podcast on National Trust Youtube:
https://ntpodcasts.org/Video

[Ad] Open the door to more with a National Trust membership. As well as free entry and parking at over 500 places we care for, you’ll receive:
• Access to our online Members’ Area, full of exclusive member-only content,
• A yearly handbook packed with visit inspiration,
• And our award-winning member magazine 3 times a year. Now also available digitally.
Become a National Trust member: 
.
For a taste of the digital magazine, visit , or if you're a member and you'd like to switch, look for My Account on the website.

Production
Host: James Grasby and Jesse Edbrooke
Producers: Jesse Edbrooke
Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Further Information
INTO - The International National Trusts Organisation
https://www.into.org/

Withstanding Climate Change
https://www.into.org/withstanding-change-project/

Blickling and Bayt Al Razzaz in partnership
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/norfolk/blickling-estate/blickling-estate-twins-with-bayt-al-razzaz-in-cairo

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at [email protected]   

As a wheelchair user, Melissa rarely has the opportunity of spending time on the beach with the rest of her family; and an activity for them all in the water together was unimaginable.  

But an ‘adaptive surfing for families’ session in South Shields in the North East, changed everything. 
You can watch a video of this podcast on National Trust Youtube: 
https://ntpodcasts.org/Video

[Ad] Open the door to more with a National Trust membership. As well as free entry and parking at over 500 places we care for, you’ll receive: 
• Access to our online Members’ Area, full of exclusive member-only content, 
• A yearly handbook packed with visit inspiration, 
• And our award-winning member magazine 3 times a year. Now also available digitally.
Become a National Trust member:  
.
For a taste of the digital magazine, visit , or if you're a member and you'd like to switch, look for My Account on the website.

Production:
Host: Claire Hickinbotham 
Producer: Katy Kelly 
Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Discover More:
Find out more about South Shields Surf:
southshieldsurf.co.uk

Learn about Team England Para:
Adaptive/Para - Surfing England

If you’d like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at: [email protected] 

Sir Isaac Newton is best known for coming up with the theory of gravity while relaxing in his orchard, thanks to an apple that fell beside him one afternoon – helping him to unravel one of the universe's great mysteries. 

But that story is only a small part of the tale... 

Heather Birkett delves into one of the greatest minds of all time. Discover how a friendship with astronomer Edmund Halley helped to bring Isaac's ideas to the world and beyond.

[Ad from our sponsor]
This episode is supported by Blue Diamond Garden Centres. Fill your space with beauty and heritage with a collection of bulbs, seeds and plants, curated by Blue Diamond Garden Centres working with National Trust gardeners. A minimum of 10% of the retail selling price will be given to support the National Trust’s conservation work and ambitions to plant and establish 20 million trees by 2030.
https://www.bluediamond.gg/national-trust

Production
Host: Heather Birkett
Producers: Jack Glover and Michelle Douglass
Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Discover more
This episode continues the story from a previous release 'Pips in Space | Featuring Tim Peake'. You could listen to that episode and hear more about the Newton Trees:
https://bit.ly/NTPod81

Find out more about Woolsthorpe Manor
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/woolsthorpe-manor

Read a biography about Sir Issac Newton
www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at [email protected]

On 18th March AD 978 at Corfe Castle in Dorset, a 16-year-old boy was brutally stabbed in the back and died shortly after. That boy was the teenage king, Edward the Martyr. But who was the murderer, or murderers? 

Join James Grasby and author Anna Groves on this Halloween historical Whodunnit, as they try and figure out who committed the regicide, with the help of some other worldly encounters.

[Ad from our sponsor] This podcast episode is sponsored by family history website Findmypast. What was life like for domestic servants, workers and local communities at our most fascinating heritage sites? Discover how people from all walks of life lived and worked, and who with, in hundreds of census records, for free, by signing up with Findmypast. And find out about the free trial that you could use to explore your family history. See where the past takes you at: findmypast.co.uk/national-trust

Watch a video of this podcast on the National Trust’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrustcharity/podcasts 

Production
Hosts : James Grasby and Anna Groves
Producers : Pippa Tilbury-Harris and Nikki Ruck
Sound Design: Jesus Gomez
Actor voices :
Caitlin Packer, Ethan Hughes, Louise Bray, Mark Powell courtesy of Prime Theatre

Discover More
If you’d like to read more about the ghosts of the National Trust, you can purchase Anna Groves’ book, ‘Britain’s Ghosts’ here:
https://shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/national-trust-britain-s-ghosts.html

To find out more about Corfe Castle including details for visiting, please click here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/dorset/corfe-castle

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at [email protected]  

Join the adventures of Ranger Rae and the Wildlifers, the new kids' podcast from the National Trust.

Introducing the Wildlifers, a crew of colourful creatures who use their special skills to help where there's trouble in nature.

Beaver’s a super engineer. Sleepy Bat’s skill is sonar. Wildcat’s a proud predator. Deer’s strong and speedy. Fox has a nose for trouble. Shy Mole’s an expert digger, and Dragonfly’s always buzzing.

Ranger Rae’s the leader and can understand animals. And 12-year-old Apprentice Roxy dreams of becoming a real Ranger and being able to talk to wildlife too.

From catching an escaped pet rat on a remote island, to solving the mystery of a giant bat in a cave, or tracking a thief through city streets, the gang are put to the test in their quests to help the natural world.

Uncover stories of adventure and discovery with friends in the wild world.

Perfect for 5-8 year olds.

Ranger Rae and the Wildlifers is a podcast from the National Trust, produced by Fun Kids Radio. Artwork (c) Becka Moor.

Follow and listen to Ranger Rae and the Wildlifers via mobile on your favourite podcast app:
podfollow.com/national-trust-kids-podcast 

Head to the National Trust Kids' Podcast website: nationaltrust.org.uk/kids-podcast

Historian David Olusoga tells the story of the children born to white British mothers and black American servicemen during the Second World War, dubbed Britain’s ‘Brown Babies’ in the African American press at the time.  

Carol and Ann, now in their 80s, revisit their childhood home, Holnicote House in Somerset. During the 1940s, the building was used for the care of around 30 children of black GIs, from birth to the age of five.    
  
Carol and Ann were among some 2000 children born in wartime Britain to black GI fathers and white British mothers. Under many pressures including social prejudice and US legislation banning interracial marriage, around half of these children were placed into care.   
  
David also meets experts Prof Lucy Bland and Dr Chamion Caballero, to reveal this little-known history of the Second World War, and how modern DNA testing is helping families search for lost relatives 80 years later. 

You can watch a video of this podcast on National Trust YouTube: ntpodcasts.org/NTP143Video 

Production  
Host: David Olusoga  
Producer: Michelle Douglass 
Sound editor: Jesus Gomez 
Consultants: Lucy Bland, Professor of Social and Cultural History at Anglia Ruskin University, and Dr Chamion Caballero, Director and Co-Founder of The Mixed Museum

Discover more  
  
Find out more about Britain’s ‘Brown Babies’ and hear oral histories, including more from Ann: 
https://mixedmuseum.org.uk/brown-babies/  
Explore the experiences of WWII black GIs in the UK:  
https://mixedmuseum.org.uk/brown-babies/black-gis-in-britain/ 
Read Britain’s ‘Brown Babies’ by Professor Lucy Bland:  
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britains-%60Brown-Babies-Stories-Children/dp/1526133261 
Discover the Holnicote Estate’s diverse countryside, wildlife and walkways, looked after by the National Trust 
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/somerset/countryside-woodland/explore-holnicote-estate  
Visit the Holnicote House hotel website: 
 https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/country-houses/locations/selworthy-exmoor  
 
If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at [email protected] 

What if you could follow in the footsteps of your ancestors and reveal the hidden tales behind some of the UK’s fascinating historical locations?  

Introducing Step into the Past, a podcast from our sponsors at Findmypast.    
  
In this episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and her guest Sandy travel to the not-so-stately home of Calke Abbey in Derbyshire to discover Sandy’s family’s longstanding connection to the estate and its early Baptist congregation.
 
Calke Abbey has undergone many transformations in its long history, moving from religious priory to sprawling stately home, and forming the core of the community in all its guises for hundreds of years.
 
Sandy discovers that her family were skilled workers and faithful retainers, who honed their crafts over generations and were rewarded for their expertise and dedication
by their wealthy patrons. Over 200 years, members of the family were embedded in the fabric of this community, enjoying the employment opportunities and patronage offered by Calke Abbey. Sandy also learns of their non-conformist beliefs, at a time when Baptism was on the rise among skilled working classes, and how this threatened the established order.

Find out more about Findmypast's family history services at: www.findmypast.co.uk

Listen to more episodes and follow the series by searching for Step into the Past on your favourite podcast app. 
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/step-into-the-past/id1704345551
https://open.spotify.com/show/4MJIpfXsZ6xwDyJvvX95sV 

Discover more about the series on the Findmypast website: 
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/page/podcast 

On September 27th 2023, the famous Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland was felled overnight in an act of vandalism, triggering a far-reaching wave of shock and sorrow.  

Join Heather Birkett as she goes behind the scenes to explore the enduring impact of this beloved landmark, the aftermath of its loss, and the community’s efforts to preserve its memory.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube and Spotify. To watch it on YouTube please click here.

Production
Host: Heather Birkett
Producers: Nikki Ruck, Katy Kelly, Pippa Tilbury-Harris
Sound Design: Nikki Ruck   

Contributors
Luke Straszewski:  NT Ranger
Andrew Poad: NT General Manager Northumberland Coast & Hadrian's Wall 
Judith Ward: Twice Brewed Inn
Mark Robinson: NT Experiences and Partnership Manager
Chris Trimmer. NT Plant Conservation Centre Manager
Louise Teasdale
Charlotte Crowe
Tony Gates: CEO Northumberland National Parks Authority
Charlie Whinney
Nick Greenall 

Discover more
Find out what’s on in Northumberland Park and The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre.
https://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/whats-on/

Keep updated with all the latest Sycamore Gap news including details of The Trees of Hope campaign, Heartwood and activities at the stump.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sycamore-gap 

Our lovely nature presenter and ranger Kate Martin is leaving to join our friends at the RSPB, helping to care for wildlife in Scotland.

Here are some of Kate's best bits and few moments from behind the scenes.

On behalf of everyone at the National Trust, from our listeners and from the podcast team, thank you and wishing you a great and adventure filled future.

A stretch of water between the mainland and Rathlin Island is home to some of the world’s most unique wildlife and infamous shipwrecks. 

Ranger Kate Martin continues her adventure along Northern Ireland’s causeway coast, this time exploring life under water. 
 
[Ad from our sponsor] 
This podcast is supported by Tourism Ireland 
Experience all of what Northern Ireland has to offer from standing on the rocks of the giants causeway, to hiking the Mourne Mountains with epic sea views, or enjoying the craic in Belfast city’s great pubs with some live music.
With amazing access from Great Britain by both air and sea, Northern Ireland is so easy to get to.
Find your next adventure visit

Production
Host : Kate Martin
Producer : Jack Glover
Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Discover More
The causeway coast is part of the UK80, a must-see route of places cared for by the National Trust and National Trust for Scotland. You can discover every stop along the way inside the Grand Adventure Map, the ultimate map for planning a Great British adventure https://shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/national-trust-grand-adventure-map.html

For info on visiting Rathlin Island please visit  http://www.rathlincommunity.org/

Information on marine life around the Causeway coast and Rathlin can be found here https://www.ulsterwildlife.org/explore/sea-life 

Prannie’s recipes and seaweed guides can be found here  https://irishseaweedkitchen.ie 

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at [email protected]