A new podcast Hidden Belfast, Forbidden Love – part of BBC Sounds’ Storytellers series – tells the story of gay people living in Belfast in the 1930s.
The five-part drama, starring Desmond Eastwood and Jonathan Harden, sheds light on the forgotten diaries of linen merchant David Strain.
David’s diaries were discovered by Dr Tom Hulme (Queen’s University, Belfast) and Professor Leanne McCormick (Ulster University).
When David died of a stroke in 1969, his diaries – some 38 volumes and well over a million words – were deposited in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland along with his photo albums, newspaper scrapbooks and letters.
The secret diaries, written between 1920 and 1943, provide the background to a journey from isolation and ignorance to a vibrant world of sexual desire, love and community.
David was attentive to record not just his own feelings and thoughts about homosexuality, but also the many conversations he had with other gay men.
All episodes of Storytellers: Hidden Belfast, Forbidden Love are available on BBC Sounds from Saturday, 7 September.
