Â鶹ԼÅÄ

Helen Castor is in the chair for this edition of Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4’s popular history magazine programme.

She’s joined by:

an expert in sex, suffrage and entertainment in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

who researches nineteenth century journalism and popular culture.

The wave of callous and life-changing acid attacks in London feels like a new threat on the streets of our capital. But, this is a crime that was horrifying Londoners in the nineteenth century too. Making History’s Hester Cant took Fern Riddell out onto the streets of North London to hear about one particularly nasty attack which the press of the day labelled Actor Murdering Mania!

A hundred years on from property-owning women winning the right to vote, it’s easy to forget the long and violent struggle which only truly ended in 1928 when women were given the franchise under the same terms as men. By taking direct action, suffragettes put themselves in great personal danger, not least from police officers and prison warders who would stop at nothing to undermine what was, effectively, a terrorist group that would resort to bombs as well as street protest to get their message home.

The suffragette response wasn’t to stop their protest or even their violence but to protect themselves by learning a martial art called Jiu Jitsu. Making History’s Iszi Lawrence is a purple belt herself and she showed the historian of the suffragettes, Dr Naomi Paxton, a few moves.

Football fans who are old enough will remember Bradford Park Avenue as the team who seemed to be continually applying for re-election to the football league. But, this former Division 4 club that’s now playing in the National League can boast of being a premiership outfit in terms of archaeology. In 2013 a band of supporters, historians and archaeologists got together for a football first: a dig on a former football pitch Bradford P.A’s old ground Horton Park Avenue. The project has spawned a book that was shortlisted for a major prize in 2017 - Breaking Ground: Art, Archaeology & Mythology.

Tom Holland spoke with historian David Pendleton who took his call whilst standing on the very spot that he saw his first football game at Park Avenue several decades ago….

Fort William are back and face the historic might of … Linkinhorne in Cornwall, will the Scots be triumphant in their quest to lay claim to be top for history in the UK?

To suggest a town or a story for our team to look into email making.history@bbc.co.uk

Making History is a Pier Production for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4