Historical Books

Early History

Holy Relics

What were they really and how much did it matter?

The Burial Goods

What are the true meaning of iron-age burial goods?

ST Tysilio

The story of a 6th Century Welsh preacher setting up as a hermit on an island in North Wales and ending up a Welsh Saint as told by a follower. Listen to the story of his upbringing, his travels, his setting up home on a small island off Anglesey and his preaching to the local peoples. What was it like to live as a hermit?

More information can be found HERE

 Mercia

Paganism, Christianity, superstition and war in northern Mercia in the C7 as seen through the eyes of a young travelling monk

Medieval history

The Templars

Life on a Templar estate in Essex

 Magna Carta

Listen to the story of a Baron mixed up in the chaos of the Magna Carta through the eyes and voice of his senchal. How did the Charter come about and what were the consequences?

More information can be found HERE

William Marshal. England’s Greatest Knight

Meet William Marshal, one of the most powerful kingmakers the country has ever seen. Listen to his life story and make your mind up about how great he actually was in terms both of Chivalry and his service to the Crown.

More information can be found HERE

The Agincourt Archer

 A Fourteenth Century Archer tells his story. Hear him talk about his joining the army hundreds of miles from where he lived, his voyage across the Channel, his time in France, including his part in the famous battle. Hear how he returned to his family a rich but changed man.

More information can be found HERE

The Weymouth Pilgrim

A Pilgrim during the period of the Black Death tells the story of his battles in France and his brush with The Black Death and its effect on him, his family and the country. Listen to the story about his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella he makes in penance of his perceived crimes.

More information can be found  HERE

A Medieval mason

How were castles built and altered in medieval times? Listen to the story of one mason. 

 There are two different stories.

• Sudeley Castle

More information can be found HERE

• The medieval master stone mason.

Meet a master mason preparing to work on an Abbey.

Listen to him telling his story of himself, his family, his lodge, and his work.

More information can be found HERE

 The Medieval History of Rochester

Rochester has a history going back many centuries with all sorts of stories attached.

Listen to the stories of the people and the times.

 I tell the story of a boy caught up in the 13th century siege of the castle by King John.

I tell the story of Rochester during the Black Death.

 I describe the castle’s part in the Peasants Revolt.

I tell the story of Walter Phillips, the last Prior of St Andrews, Rochester during the Dissolution of the monasteries

More information can be found  HERE

A Medieval village 

Who lived in these villages? What was daily life like? Why did some disappear leaving only the outlines of their foundations for us to see? Listen to such an inhabitant describing his life in one such west country village

More information can be found HERE

 Adgor’s Farmhouse

A medieval farmer telling his story about his rise in medieval society and the building his own farmhouse which still stands in Suffolk to this day.

More information can be found HERE

The Stony Stratford Kidnapping 

A medieval innkeeper enjoying a quiet comfortable time is swept into national politics when he witnesses the kidnapping of a king in his Inn. The kidnapper was the future Richard III, and the child, one of the so called ‘babes in the Tower’.

More information can be found HERE

Tintern Abbey and the Dissolution 

What actually happened during the Dissolution? Why did it happen and what happened to the treasures and people who resided in the Great Abbeys? Listen to the Abbot describing what happened to him and his monks.

More information can be found HERE

Georgian and Later stories

 The Pass of Killikrankie 

A ghost story adapted from an old Scottish tale about the Jacobite wars in Scotland.

Meet Joseph Banks

Meet the famous plant hunter and co-creator of Kew Gardens. Hear about his voyage around the world with Capt. Cook, about his associations with Capt. Bligh and many other famous people of the time.

 William Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey and the Romantics

What made Wordsworth write his poem relating to the Abbey. What did he see and what did he experience. What made this place a location for pilgrimage for the Romantics? Meet Wordsworth and hear him talk about his visits to the Abby and his writing of his famous poem ‘A few lines written..’ 

More information can be found HERE

The Tolpuddle Martyrs

The story of the famous martyrs as told through the eyes of George Loveless one of the so called leaders. Listen to him talk about the conditions he lived in, about the church and his principles. Hear how he was arrested and deported. Listen to him talk about his return and the start of the Trade Union movement. Hear how he and his family finally prospered in an unusual place.

More information can be found HERE

An Audience with Mr Charles Dickens

Meet Mr Dickens and listen to the story of his childhood. Hear about his family, his childhood in Kent, his experiences of school, and of factory work aged 12, and of his family’s stay in the Marshalsea Prison. Find out how he got inspiration for his stories and his characters.

More information can be found HERE

The Davies Brothers

A history of a family that created a shipping empire in Victorian North Wales from very humble beginnings.

From grocers to multimillionaires and MPs, and Lords Lieutenants of Anglesey.

The family created an empire that stretched around the world from a very small seaport.

Sir John Cator

A South London tradesman who had eyes for a a much higher social class.

WW1 Stories

 The Kilted Tommy

These Historical Interpretations are based on the life and times of Harry Kay (Simon’s maternal grandfather), and his family.

He was a volunteer in Kitchener’s Army during the First World War.

More information can be found HERE

 The Kilted Tommy

This is the story of an ordinary Englishman who joined a Highland Regiment, the Seaforth Highlanders, and, surprisingly joined thousands of other Englishmen who fought in kilts for their country.
We hear about why Harry joined up, his training, his first battle at Loos, his other battles, the nature of comradeship, and how his experiences influenced his life in the aftermath of the Great War.

 Other WW1 Stories About The Kilted Tommy

Downton Abbey

The TV series made famous Highclere House’ role in WW1 as a hospital for wounded officers. Find out what it was like to be wounded and treated in the army. Find out through the eyes of Harry Kay what it was like for the officers sent to Highclere House.

 Kipling

Jack Kipling, the son of writer Rudyard Kipling was famously killed in 1915 at the Battle of Loos

The Kilted Tommy fought close to where Jack Kipling was killed at the battle of Loos. I wrote this story exploring about what might have happened if they met. Hear how 2 young soldiers became friends and how, at the end of the war, the Kilted Tommy visited Rudyard Kipling at Batemans and told him of his friendship with his son.

Meet Harry Hawker

Meet this daredevil Australian who set several flying records before WW1

These are his stories about these exciting record attempts

Read of  him explaining how he became chief designer and tester of the Sopwith aeroplanes that became such a stalwart of the English WW1 Flying Corps.

Read of him talking about setting up the Hawker Aircraft company that went on to build the famous Hawker RAF planes of WW2

Private Arnold Jenkins

The story of a private from South Wales who fought bravely and ended up in a hospital in Fulham Palace.

World War 2

D-Day

How would the, retired from active service, Kilted Tommy react to finding out D-Day had arrived and that his son was in the thick of the fighting. He reminisces on D-day, the events leading up to it and how he and his family experienced the day, and of his hopes for the future. Hear about home front life in WW2 in the eyes of Simon’s maternal grandparents.

V-E Day

How would the, retired from active service, Kilted Tommy and his family manage during WW2. How the time from D-Day was littered with false promised for the end of the war and how they coped. How they finally found out it was V-E Day. How they felt about it and how they celebrated and planned for a new life after the war. Hear about home front life in WW2 in the eyes of Simon’s maternal grandparents.

More information can be found HERE

 Juno Beach

Jeff Kay, Harry’s son, joined the Royal Marines at 18. Meet him and hear his tales about his initial training, and the preparations leading up to D-Day. Experience with him his embarkation onto a landing craft from Gosport as commander of a Centaur tank. Experience the terrifying landings onto Juno Beach on the first day of D-Day. Find out what he did on that day that won him the Military Medal at only 20 years old.

More information can be found HERE

Children and History

Dickens

Dickens shares his stories about his childhood, his father going to jail, his being sent out of the family home to live and work by himself at the age of 11.

Castle Keep

A visit to a castle in the middle of winter leads a boy into some unexpected adventures.

The Attack

A girl visiting a castle with her parents one hot day when the castle was overcrowded, gets excitingly lost.

The Quest

What it is really like for a knight and his squire to go on a quest to rescue a princess from a dragon.

The Knight

The story of a knight at a tournament with his squire

The Squire

The story of the squire with his knight at a tournament.

 Mercia

Paganism, Christianity, superstition and war in northern Mercia in the C7 as seen through the eyes of a young travelling monk

The Young William Marshall

How a boy of lowly birth became one of the most powerful men in England