Writer, researcher and parish council adviser

I was born in Somerset, and in my teenage years worked for a seaside photography studio, later writing history articles for a free local newspaper, before going to university.

I gained a BA degree is Psychology from Durham University and joined the BBC as a Studio Manager at Broadcasting House and the BBC World Service.

I was a Senior Broadcast Journalist and a member of a local station's management team until 2011 when I decided to become a full-time writer, researcher, and to work with parish councils.

My MA degree is in English Local History (Nottingham) and I hold the Certificate in Local Government Administration. Currently, I work with five parish bodies, and I am a trustee of my local Community Library.

Books

Talks & Research

Parish Advisory

British Retail and the men who shaped it

Many of the high street names that meet our twenty-first century needs began with men and women who had ideas, imagination and sheer determination in a different age.

Shopping is a universal part of modern-day life, and in British Retail and the Men Who Shaped It we look at the people behind the corporations that built the modern-day high street and changed the way we shopped.

This book is a celebration of the people who, through self-belief and determination created the multi-million-pound retail businesses we use every day.

Published by Pen & Sword
3 August 2018
£19.99
ISBN: 978-1526715258
214 pages
Hardback

Where am I?

I enjoy giving talks to local societies and organisations.  See where I will pop up next, here!

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots
Marcus Garvey

Research for Michael Wood's BBC Television series

It was a privilege to work with Michael Wood and his Mayavision International team on their groundbreaking BBC television series Story of England in 2009/10,  which included local research and co-organising the 'Kibworth Dig' when we dug over fifty test pits and recorded the finds.

Later, I provided production support for Mayavision International's Great British Story : A People's History, broadcast on BBC2 and BBC4 in 2011/12.


Study the past if you would define the future
Confucius

Leicester City Heritage Panels

I undertook the research and wrote the text for twenty heritage panels installed at locations in Leicester in 2014-15.  A wonderful breadth of material from Cardinal Wolsey to Sid James!

Commissioned by Leicester City Council and created by The Art Department, Nottingham.