Building a Cathedral

Jo Browning Wroe (c) Martin Bond

Book talk: Graham Palmer chats to best-selling author Jo Browning Wroe

Revolting Royston (2): Royston’s Bastille

Royston Workhouse © Royston Museum

Britain is close to bankruptcy and the government is looking to make cuts. A riot threatens when the ‘Reverend Agitator’ FH Maberly calls a mass meeting in 1836 to protest against Royston’s new Poor Law Workhouse. City centres around Britain have gone up in flames. Will Royston be next?

The Terror and the Light

As the ripples spread from the dissolution of a small town’s priory, a spy is caught and Cromwell has him racked. My latest podcast tells what happens next. ‘The Terror and the Light’ (developed for the British Association for Local History) ties in with the broadcast of the last episode of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. Milady… Continue reading The Terror and the Light

Mutiny!

I am delighted to be giving this talk at Royston Museum to raise funds for the hard-working Friends of the Museum. On 17 May 1743, 100 soldiers of the Black Watch Regiment turned on their commanders. 280 years on, discover how one man was hunted down in Royston and what happened next. Mutiny!: The Black… Continue reading Mutiny!

Learning to be human

Why (and what) do I read? It’s a very good question. I was chuffed recently to be asked to contribute some thoughts to Chris Lee’s Bookworms blog about why I love reading. It was good to torture my braincells into remembering what I actually read when I was a child, and how my reading habits… Continue reading Learning to be human