The Regent's Park Skating Disaster of 1867 | Episode 98

Nothing says ‘fun afternoon’ quite like adding cutlery to your feet, bruising most of your body, and then going for a nice swim. And to clarify, when I say nothing, I mean because that’s not something that anyone has ever said before.

On today’s episode: we’ll see how the former digs of axe murderers and corpse thieves and child labour body pits became one of the most beautiful green spaces in London; we’ll learn why early ice skates were only marginally more comfortable than being eaten by wolves; and we’ll learn why Victorian fashion doubled as de facto funeral attire with the addition of simple water.

And because you are listening on Patreon… you’ll hear about how early animal captivity turned one man into a bloody Stretch Armstrong doll, complete with blood spray effects; you will learn how the Dutch invented a new high-speed form of knife-fighting and ice skates for horses; and you will hear how London had a unique form of Winter Fair that only closed up for the year once people started drowning.

There’s no risk of drowning in feces or burning to death in today’s story, so in a way this is our nicest visit to Victorian England we’ve ever attempted – you’re welcome. But that said, we’re going to see how everything from your hobbies to your clothes wanted you dead. And I don’t want to spoil anything, but by the time we’re finishing up, you’re going to wonder just how often the same thing can happen again and again. I don’t want your takeaway to be fear, I want it to be hope and empowerment, acknowledging even the most frightening situations are not guaranteed death sentences. As one of my favourite listeners says, “you’re not dead till you’re warm and dead”.

This is our last normal episode of the year. A year that will have brought you more than 934 minutes of content and laid 23,589 corpses at your feet. Not bad if I do say so myself. The next episode will be our Christmas disaster movies ode, and for you guys I’m turning it into a video!


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Safety google off. We'll talk soon. And thanks for listening.


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