I do a lot of talks for Sovereign Education, speaking to groups of 6th form students on A level study days. But a couple of weeks ago I agreed to step in and speak for Lancaster Royal Grammar School’s History Society. They meet at lunchtime and there are members from the whole school community from…

A busy start to the new year has meant that I haven’t had time to write any posts for the blog. I’ve been preparing my MA course for Lancaster, as well as the seminars for the Civil War course on which I’m teaching. Then there’s the marking – having finished one pile last week, another…

You might have noticed that there hasn’t been a post for a couple of weeks. Normally, I write a bunch of posts and then schedule them to come out over a few weeks. It’s easier that way, because I can set aside a chunk of time and write posts in bulk rather than having to…

At the beginning of October, I took part in Lancashire County Library Service’s Fun Palaces event at Longridge Library, singing Tudor ballads for an hour to anyone and everyone.  It was good fun, as I hope you can see from the videos below. I sang several songs, or at least, edited highlights of them.  There…

Just before the summer holidays, my son took part in his school summer concert.  One of his contributions was a cover of David Bowie’s ‘Starman’, which he accompanied on the piano.  He taught himself to play in just a couple of months, so here is a ‘proud mum’ moment.  Quite an achievement.