Verulam School History & Podcast
Remembrance Day is of vital importance, sharing stories and commemorating those who have fallen in past conflicts, including World War One.
This year, the History Department at Verulam School is remembering The Great War by writing, delivering and broadcasting a special history podcast on the St Albans local radio station. This is about a local St Albans man called Herbert Hiskett who grew up on Hatfield Road, attended Hatfield Road Boys School, fought, and unfortunately died, in World War One. Herbert’s story is one of many that help us understand what some people have gone through by giving their lives in defence of the country.
Helped by Mr Pettitt, the podcast was written and delivered by Henry Hitchiner (8H), Henry Gaskin (8C) and Roan Hoggarth (8C). These Year 8 boys visited the studio at Radio Verulam, showing resilience, determination and a real passion for history.
The boys were ambassadors for the school; one of the board of directors at Radio Verulam said that the boys were “an absolute pleasure to work with. Their level of engagement, attention and commitment to their work is outstanding.” This act of remembrance will be aired on Monday 11th November on Radio Verulam (92.6 FM) and officially launches Mr Pettitt’s new History Podcast series on Radio Verulam, broadcasting local stories to the community of St Albans.
Alongside the Remembrance Day podcast about Herbert Hiskett, two other episodes in Mr Pettitt’s first series have been written and delivered by boys at Verulam. Dennis Haggart (Year 13) recorded a podcast about the local DeHavilland Aircraft Company, delving into its rich aviation history surrounding both St Albans and Welwyn Garden City. Ronan Hewit (11P) and Logan Hewit (11Y) also visited the studio at Radio Verulam to record their history podcast about Bride Hall, in Ayot St Lawrence, a quiet dwelling until the start of the Second World War which witnessed it being transformed into an espionage base. Bases like these were responsible for some of the undercover systematic secret planning for missions like Operation
Anthropoid, the successful assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a high ranking Nazi SS officer. Mr Pettitt’s new history podcast series for the local radio will be broadcasted on Radio Verulam (92.6 FM), weekly, from 11th November.
