There is a town in the English Cotswolds, sometimes referred to as the most Regency place in the world. But it's not all bonnets and townhouses: this is the story of Cheltenham, the home of British spying. From the madness of King George to the madness of Geoffrey Prime, and the construction of the Donut to the leaking of GCHQ files by Edward Snowden, Cheltenham has been at the centre of global espionage for a century. Does this town know too much?
“Hilton’s script is beautiful... knowingly florid, ironically meandering... one of those rare
moments when a podcast slips the surly bonds of being merely audio entertainment and
approaches the condition of art” – James Marriott, The Times
“Hilton is a terrific narrator and the writing is densely packed... florid descriptions are mixed
with reflective commentary, unexpected pop culture references and the odd brilliantly timed
gag” – Fiona Sturges, Financial Times
“Hilton’s investigative dedication and wry humour make these series utterly gripping” –
Miranda Sawyer, The Observer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
There is a town in the English Cotswolds, sometimes referred to as the most Regency place in the world. But it's not all bonnets and townhouses: this is the story of Cheltenham, the home of British spying. From the madness of King George to the madness of Geoffrey Prime, and the construction of the Donut to the leaking of GCHQ files by Edward Snowden, Cheltenham has been at the centre of global espionage for a century. Does this town know too much?
“Hilton’s script is beautiful... knowingly florid, ironically meandering... one of those rare
moments when a podcast slips the surly bonds of being merely audio entertainment and
approaches the condition of art” – James Marriott, The Times
“Hilton is a terrific narrator and the writing is densely packed... florid descriptions are mixed
with reflective commentary, unexpected pop culture references and the odd brilliantly timed
gag” – Fiona Sturges, Financial Times
“Hilton’s investigative dedication and wry humour make these series utterly gripping” –
Miranda Sawyer, The Observer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
There's a clock in Cheltenham that hangs above a shopping arcade. Below its face a magnificent golden fish rotates and, on the half hour spews bubbles. It is a singular work from a singular mind: that of Kit Williams.
Williams is most famous for the Masquerade puzzle hunt in the 1980s. This is the story of the man, the book and the quest he set in motion. And if you keep listening throughout the podcast, you might find yourself off on a hunt of your own...
To start your puzzle hunt go to WishingFishClock.com
Contributors to this episode: Paul Slade, Dan Amrich, Mariella Cook, Kelvin Horton, Stuart Ashen, Anneka Rice, Karl Coppack.
And the team at Dreamcatcher: Sarah Binney, Michael Kearns, Ben Below and Catalin Ursachi.
This is the fourth episode of The Town That Knew Too Much, written, produced and presented by Nick Hilton.
The music is by George Jennings, based on The Planets by Gustav Holst. The entire score for the series is available to stream on Spotify.
This is the fourth part of a 7-part series available on all good podcast platforms. You can find out more about the show on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook – just go to @thetownpod – or visit www.thetownpod.com for episode notes and more information. If you’ve enjoyed the show, please go to your podcast provider and leave a rating and review.
The Town That Knew Too Much is a Podot podcast, for more information visit podotpods.com.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.