On the naming of forts
Finding names for places that are authentically ancient British is a patchy affair. Sometimes we know; sometimes we work it out; sometimes we haven’t a clue. The ancient name for…
Hill forts and high places
No one is certain why the ancient Britons created ‘hillforts’. The name implies defence, but the scant signs of warfare cause some to believe that they were elaborate livestock compounds…
The Old Wheel of the New Year
‘Writing’ is not always about putting words on the page. Much of it is about thinking, shaping, structuring, researching. One of my favoured tools of structure is a monthly calendar…
The Devil’s Quoits
It is a little known fact that the waste disposal centre at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, is a sacred site. It’s also a good waste disposal centre, being small. You arrive,…
Finding the Soul in History
The following is the substance of a talk given at the Oxford Storytelling Festival, August 2018.What is history? We often think of it as the past but more correctly it…