Our county’s unique collection of fascinating people and stunning locations make the ideal subject for podcasters and authors alike. Here are 10 podcasts and audiobooks looking at life in Essex
Ken Crowther’s Gardening Podcast
Now that you have lots of time to spend around the house and in the garden this podcast from BBC Essex will be just what you need to get your green areas ready for spring and summer.
Click here to listen.
‘Secret Water’ by Arthur Ransome
The eighth book of Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazons’ series is set in Hamford Water near Walton-on-the-Naze with the protagonists exploring the coastal landscape and meeting a selection of eccentric locals.
Click here to listen.
The Essex 2020 Podcast
Essex 2020 is a year-long celebration of science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (STEAM) and this monthly podcast will go behind the scenes of the project. The first two episodes look at the Essex Book Festival and Marconi’s impact on Chelmsford.
Click here to listen.
Glenn Tamplin on Anything Goes With James English
Tamplin is the current owner and manager of Romford FC and has a fascinating past where he discovered god following drug addiction. Here he speaks to James English, a podcaster known for speaking to a number of controversial guests.
Click here to listen.
‘The Essex Serpent’ by Sarah Perry
Newly widowed Cara Seaborne has moved to Colchester hoping for a new start yet rumours of a mythical serpent roaming Essex’s marshes takes her to Aldwinter, a fictional village based on the Blackwater Estuary.
Click here to listen.
The Invention of Essex: How a County Became a Caricature
This Guardian podcast takes an in-depth look at the various different perceptions of Essex’s cultural landscape from the flashness of TOWIE to being the southern symbol of those supporting Brexit.
Click here to listen.
The Essex Boys Case - The Story of Darren Nicholls
The Rettendon murders have been used as the basis for many different forms of media and this audiobook tells the story of Darren Nicholls, the police informant responsible for helping to secure the convictions of Jack Whomes and Michael Steele.
Click here to listen.
‘Barnaby Rudge’ by Charles Dickens
This classic begins at The Maypole Inn in Chigwell and observes the social and cultural climate in this part of the world during the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780.
Click here to listen.
‘Cargo of Eagles’ by Margery Allingham
Allingham’s detective Albert Campion sends his American associate Mortimer Kelsey out to an old smuggling hamlet in Essex to investigate a murder likely linked to the area’s illicit activities.
Click here to listen.
The Brights
Get inside the life of TOWIE star Lydia Bright as she and her family give you an insight into the daily goings on in the Bright household.
Click here to listen.
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