All Episodes
Gretel le Maître Ponders Beauty, with Bede & other guests — 575 episodes
Strictly Books: Haworth ‘Arvills; Young Christianity in Britain; Pepys; & Trollope
Drama in Barchester Towers; and we revisit St Nicholas Church in Bratton St Maur
Pepys, Poetry, Chronicle and Courage
Villette, by Charlotte Brontë, says its Adieu
The Life of Bede; Tuesday Bells; Dear Mr Pepys; and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
A Flying visit to Bury St Edmunds; and Chapter XL of Villette, Charlotte Brontë.
Wide mouthed-Hate-dents, Yorkshire and Barchester Folk, Pepys, E Thomas and A Marvell
‘To see and know the worst is to take from Fear her main advantage’ - Villette
Agony from Mrs Gaskell; Astonishment for Lucy Snow; and Joy from William Shakespeare
Books on Monday: Lord Durham in Canada; Pepys in Grief; Lord Byron in Prayer; and Mellitus in Kent
Villette: Chapter XXXIX; and a Red Kite sings
Nicola Cornick, brilliant and joyful historical novelist, meets Gretel at Sutton Courtenay Abbey
Somewhat Shambolic Effort from Sutton Courtenay; and from Obadiah Slope
Chiffchaff in a Churchyard; Wednesday Witterings; and C. Brontë’s Villette
Young Canada, Villette, Eadwine, and Pepys
Charlotte Brontë’s Villette: Chapter XXXVI ‘The Apple of Discord’
A Saxon Cross-Slab at St Paul’s Church, Jarrow; and Mr Slope Schmoozes 🫣
Villette Purls into the Heart; & Waterside Witterings
Monday Literary Feast: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Samuel Pepys, William Hunt and Charlotte Brontë
St Paul’s Church, Jarrow; Barchester Towers and a Clock-a-Clay
Villette, by Charlotte Brontë. Is your lion couchant?
Across the Sea to Lindisfarne; Saxon and Medieval Ruins; the Petting Stone; and Bede’s Final Days
A Visit to Inner Farne Island: Puffins, Terns & St Cuthbert; and Mrs Proudie’s Fury in Barchester Towers
Heavenly Heavenfield, Holy Hexham, Bamburgh Green and Shakespeare
The Life and Death of Saint Oswald, by Aubrey de Vere
A Saturday Picnic of Literature: Bede, Brontë, Clare and Pepys
A Panting Puppy & Noisy Mr Katt; and the Dedication Stone at St Paul’s, Jarrow
Barchester Towers, Sherborne Swifts and a Summer of Adventure
A Ghostly Nun in Villette; the Mardi Bells; and The Essence of Loneliness
The Deaths of St Gregory and St Augustine; The Hopelessness of Charles II; and the Achievements of John Fisher
Two Chapters in a Noisy Garden: Villette and Barchester
Bryon’s Pathless Woods; Mr Quiverful’s Poverty; Judith’s Arc; and Pepys’ Head
Judith; the Peculiar case of Canada; Sprinkling of Saints; et Encore Villette
Villette: Charlotte Brontë’s Enchanting Weaving of Words
A Walk to the Sea, White Pebbles, and Villette
A Saxon Affrighted Ram at St Osmund’s; No Venture within Mrs Hardy’s; and Barchester Towers
Strictly Villette: Chapter XXVIII. Monsieur Paul and Lucy Snowe
Riverside Stroll, Hever Castle, and a Saxon Lament
A Long Chapter by Trollope and then Exeter’s Past, cut short by an inept Gretel
Hardy transports us to Egdon Heath; the Birth of Chartism; and Riverside Witterings
Simply Villette; and Eeyore’s wistfulness at being mistaken for Tigger
Bruton Bell; Housework Shmousework; Early Church Chronicles; and Barchester Towers
Strictly Literature: Tennyson, Trollope and C Brontë
John Colet of St Paul’s; Pepys’ love of ‘Discourse’; and Lucy Snowe watches and sees all
Sir Robert Peel in Parliament; the Founding of Peterborough; Pepys is Joyful; and Lucy Snowe has a Visitresse
Belgian Buns, Saint Barnabas, John Clare and Charlotte Brontë’s Villette
Early Christianity in England; Tuesday Bells 🔔; Saints and Chronicles; et Villette
Bonus Episode: Living with Grief and Tragedy, a Chat with a Friend
Simply Villette 🕯️ (and a little abbey-loitering)
A Saturday Salad 🥗: Roman Exeter, Lord Brougham, Pepys, Saint Norbert, and (merci Oxford) the Bare Necessities 🐻
Short & Petite: We Close Charlotte Brontë’s chapter on Hope
A Literary Late: Trollope, Hardy and C Brontë
Teenagers, Trust and Trickiness; Samuel Pepys’ Diary; and Barchester Towers
Victoria becomes Queen; Gretel Witters; and Saxon Deor
Sunday Couplets: Augustine and Gregory; Slope and Archbishop; Graham and Lucy
Literary Friday: Charlotte Brontë, Anthony Trollope and The Venerable Bede
Matrimony in St Genny’s; Difficult Times; A Secret Brook
Strictly Villette: Chapters XVIII and XIX
‘That in the dreariest places peace will be a dweller and a joy’ John Clare
Gentle Bonus Episode pour Vous: Pepys, Saints and Charlotte Brontë
An Episode of Two Halves: birds, hedgehogs, puppies and silences; and then exquisite Villette
Lucy Snowe Awakes; Puppy Eats Microphone; Saints are Remembered
Saxon poem Andreas; Shelley’s Halcyon Morn; and Blackbird Sings 🐦⬛
Simply Villette: Chapter XV ‘The Long Vacation’ 🌒
Gretel absorbs William Shakespeare’s Stratford-Upon-Avon and chats with Sir Richard Eyre 🎭
Strictly Literature: dear John Clare; Anthony Trollope; and Charlotte Brontë
Gretel visits Oxford: a mooch about a beautiful city.
Dr Eleanor Parker, author of Winters in the World, chats to Gretel in Brasenose College, Oxford
Strictly Books: Anthony Trollope; Samuel Pepys and Charlotte Brontë
Saxon Saturday: The Seafarer; Saxon Churches; and Anglo-Saxon England 🗡️
Strictly Books; Villette by Charlotte Brontë 🥀
Bonus Episode: St Augustine wins over the King of Kent while Gretel visits Sherborne Abbey
Pepys enjoys his Sliding Rule; Lucy Snowe enjoys a Thunderstorm; and Madame Neroni enjoys needling a Bishop’s wife
The Hollow Tree by John Clare; Lucy Snowe is watchful, in Villette; and St Gregory’s Greatness
St Gennys, Samuel Pepys and an Old Saxon Lament; historian Tom Holland becomes our Honorary Patron
Strictly Literature: Charlotte Brontë, Anthony Trollope, and Cup of Exquisite Poetry
Charlotte Brontë’s Villette, Hungry Hedgehogs; and Chatter
Gretel Ponders her Past; Pepys is Up Betimes; A Brace of Saints; and Chapter 8 of Villette
Saxon Saturday: The Departing Soul’s Address to The Body; Egbert, Anselm & The Chronicle.
Strictly Books: Villette and Essay on Nature by R Jefferies
Lucy’s heart awakens by St Paul’s in Villette; Monsieur Robin; and Barchester Chronicles
Fruit of Three Segments: SWIRE Exhibition; Lacock Abbey; and Books (Pepys, Trollope & Brontë)
Gretel and Aerial Photographer Hedley Thorne visit Wayland Smithy
The White Church of Woolstone; A Jamboree of Jackdaws; Wordsworth; and Villette
Bonus Friday Episode: Secret Old Buildings; Trollope; and a Gothic Glossary
Villette by Charlotte Brontë: Chapter Three - The Art of Minute Observation
A Walk about St Peter’s Church, Purse Caundle; and we meet Madeline in Barchester Towers
Strictly Books: Trollope, Brontë, Pepys and The Chronicles
A Woodland Walk with Puppy; Pepys has a Sore Testicle; and Mr Harding hopes to be Warden again
A Saxon Church with a Remarkable Rood; and Chapter One of Villette, by Charlotte Brontë
A Return to Sandhurst; Preface to Charles Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge; and the Start of Something New (York) 🦢
Strictly Dickens: Barnaby Rudge comes to a Close
Let no man turn aside, ever so slightly, from the broad path of honour.
Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Towers; and Charles Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge
Hedgehogs🦔, Blackbirds 🐦⬛, and Garden Joy; A Brave Letter from Pepys; & The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Strictly Dickens: Chapter LXXV. Darth Vader is spoken to by Obi-Wan Kenobi
Bonus Episode: Chatterings with Daughter on the United States; Garden Ponderings; and Barchester Towers
Maundy Thursday Literary Litany: Fuller’s History; Sage Saints; Dicken’s America and Rudge; and Pepys’ Progress
A Happy Scamper ‘Round Sherborne Museum; Barnaby Rudge; and a Saxon Wanderer
Barnaby Rudge; Thomas Hardy; 19th Century Halifax NS; and Nonsense from Gretel in Sunshiney England 🌞
Strictly Dickens: Chapters LXX and LXXI
Thomas Hardy in Grief; Mr Slope’s Slippery Sermon; and Naked Wanderings in Wales
Poor Barnaby Rudge misses his dogs in Chapter LXIX; the horrors of late-night travel; and a return to Sherborne
Philippa Langley chats to Gretel about her Life, King Richard and Following the Evidence
An Expensive Goat and no Winter Coat; Dario talks Whisky; Barnaby Rudge comes to Edinburgh [Ch LXVIII]
Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man: Strictly Dickens
The Apparition of The Rood; Gnomic Verses; Playground Chants; Trollope; and Dickens
Strictly Dickens: Chapters LXIV & LXV
Sunday sunshine with Miss Miggs, the Wren, the Blackbird and Daisy Tangents
Barnaby Rudge Chapter LXII; and we continue Hunt’s History of the English Church
Haredale seeks Justice in B Rudge Ch LXI; Too much Gretel Wittering; and Mr Slope makes Enemies in Barchester Towers
Sunshine arrives in Sherborne; and the Rioters Reorg at Fleet Market in Ch LX
Sprinkling of Saints; Tuesday Bells; and Vile Villains in Barnaby Rudge (Ch LIX)
A Soldier’s Kindness in Barnaby Rudge; The Ruin: then and now; and Pepys Adopts the Periwig
A Second Sunday Episode: Barnaby Rudge Chapter LVII
Solomon Daisy has a Tough Day in Chapter LVI of Barnaby Rudge, by Charles Dickens
Dorchester in the Spring Sunshine; and Dickens’ words on Americans,
Charles Dickens’ opinion of 19th century Americans; and a Terrifying Ch LV, of B Rudge
Puppy Chaos; Sibling Sadness; Poor Maypole John in Chapter LIV of Barnaby Rudge
‘Her Day-dreams Truth, and Truth a Dream’ (Sir Walter Scott); ‘A Moral Plague Ran Through the City’ (Charles Dickens)
The Black Death; Abbey Bells; Puppy Mischief; and Chapter LII of B. Rudge
Simon Tappertit shames himself in Barnaby Rudge; as does Samuel Pepys in his Diaries 🫣
Barnaby Rudge Chapter L: the Sheep are Led Astray; and Church Architecture
Dear Barnaby Rudge (Chs XLVIII/IX) and the Gordon Riots; A Gentle Poetic Counterpoint
Puppy Patience; New York in the 1840s; and Marvellous Grip in Barnaby Rudge as the Plot breaks into a Canter
Barnaby Rudge Chapters XLV and XLVI; Sympathy for the Devil
Barnaby Rudge Chapter XLIV; Trollope describes a Spongy Nose; Dickens in America; and New Puppy Chaos
With St David and Charles Dickens we celebrate the first of the Spring Months 🌞
Sunday Part 1: Barnaby Rudge Ch XLII; And Mr Katt grumbles about The New Puppy
A Visit to Castle Cary; King Ethelbert’s Feast; and Barnaby Rudge Ch. XLI
B.Rudge Chapters XXXIX/XL: things hot up in London; Sherborne Abbey’s Bell Practice; and the Birds help keep Grief at bay. 🕯️
Barnaby Rudge Chapter XXXViii; Spring comes to Sherborne; The Dream of the Rood 🌳
Gretel in conversation with wonderful Angela Tilby
Barnaby Rudge Chs XXXV/VI; Saints; and Scott’s Rokeby. Hollow Hearts and Malevolent Minds
Mr Katt argues his point; Rokeby by Sir Walter Scott; Pepys’ Progress; and Wulfric’s Feast Day
Shakespeare’s Sonnet; Acca’s Feast; Pepys’ Precision; and Dickens’ Genius [B Rudge Ch XXXV]
Tuesday Part II: Pink Bears; Friendship; London Chaos; Theatre 🎭; Hardy; and Barnaby Rudge (Ch XXXIV)
Barnaby Rudge Ch XXXIII: the Cosy Maypole Inn; and an Explanation of Gothic Architecture
Barnaby Rudge Ch XXXII; The Battle of Malden; and Bishop Proudie settles in
Bonus Episode: History of the English Church; Towsing in Restoration London; John Clare; and a Barchester Baby
A Poem for Wolsey; and Chapters XXX & XXXI of Barnaby Rudge: our hearts pang for poor Joe
Barnaby Rudge Ch XXIX; Beautiful words on the Venerable Bede; and Barchester Botherings
The Episode of Gremlins! B Rudge Ch XXVIII; Pepys; and a visit to the source of the River Yeo
Sunday Episode the First: Chs XXVI/VII in B Rudge: Mr Chester is on the offensive; a little Pepys; a Cardinal’s post-script; and an Orange 🍊
Late Episode for Night Owls: B.Rudge Ch.XXV; The Nightingale’s Nest 🪺; and Hardy’s wisdom
Barnaby Rudge Ch.XXIV; Breathtaking Beowulf; and Magnificent Maya Angelou.
Wolsey; Clare; Saints; Bells; Blackbird; and Barnaby (Rudge Chs XXII & XXIII) 🐦⬛
Old English Poetry, starring Widsith; Slipping through my Fingers; a Midnight Moon; and Trollope
Saint Brigid; Pepys; Barchester Towers; and Chs XX & XXI of Barnaby Rudge
Longer days; Daffodils; Aquinas; Gildas; Wolsey; and AA Milne’s The Sailor ⚓️
Barnaby Rudge Special Episode: Chapters XVII, XVIII and IX
The Decline of Wolsey (poison in the hair shirt?); and Gretel visits a Saxon Church
A return to beautiful Bury St Edmunds; Wolsey’s Progress of Gloom; and Chapter XVI of B Rudge
Barnaby Rudge, Chapters XIV & XV: Sons and Fathers; and the Arrest of a Weeping Cardinal Wolsey
Saturday Bonus Episode: Wolsey; Saints; Pepys and Introducing Henry James;
We visit a Dorset Church; Meet Puppies; and B.Rudge Ch.XIII (bit of overlap);
Hedgehogs 🦔; Ivanhoe, Saint Agnes; Tudor children confirmed by Wolsey; and Ch XIII B Rudge
Pepys hears Suffolk lasses are prettiest; Saint Canute; and Haredale meets Chester in B. Rudge Ch. XII
Durham III: A Cosy Pub chat with David and Tom; Poor Peter enters the Cranford narrative; and Drama at The Maypole (Barnaby Rudge Ch XI)
Durham II: An Hour with writer David Willem; and Barnaby Rudge Chapter X
Durham Cathedral part one: from Sherborne to the Cathedral in time for Evensong
B Rudge Chapter IX; a Comedy of Umbrellas
Barnaby Rudge Chapters VII and VIII where we meet some Ne'er-do-wells
A Potter around Cornish Churches
Barnaby Rudge Chapters V and VI; a Storm Rages outside while the Cornish Darts League play on
A visit to St Denis, Otterham; Pondering modern freedoms; and John Clare’s ‘Beans in Blossom’
Barnaby Rudge V: introducing Dolly as we head to North Cornwall
Barnaby Rudge IV: Youthful rebellion, a simple soul, and a tender heart.
Beautiful Bloated Moon; Pepys Confesses his Jealousy; and Saint Genevieve
Pepys contends with Jealousie; Out-of-date Historicising; and Mr Friendly from Bury St Edmunds
Barnaby Rudge Third Day: we meet dear Gabriel Varden 🦉
The Second Episode of Charles Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge: Solomon tells his story;
We begin Barnaby Rudge; and are reminded by John Clare ‘O thus while musing wild, I’m doubly blest//My woes unheeding and my heart at rest
A Christmas Day; a Wedding Day; A Story Concludes
Penultimate Under the Greenwood and a Happy Christmas Eve 🎄
Poems; Pell Mell; and The Spell
Fancy is helped by a Woodland Witch; Wolsey gives his Necklace to Harry Norris; and Mr Katt makes a Vocal appearance
Nutting, beekeeping and folly in Melstock; Wolsey avoids the Tower and kisses the earth; and a visit to The Farmer’s Dog
Will you join the dance? Said a Whiting to a Snail 🐌; Dick Dewy Fumes
Under the Greenwood tree 🌳 as Gretel sleeps under a Cotswolds sky
The Jabberwocky; the Tide has Turned for Wolsey; and Dick Dewy contends with a Flight of Fancy
Christmas Shenanigans in Sherborne Abbey; and Dick asks Fancy the Question ☺️
Fancy Day tells Dick Dewy she loves him ‘a little’; a Dunnock; and Emily Dickinson
The Tranter has the measure of Fancy Day; Gretel Ponders her childhood Christmas; and we Grieve in Cranford
Do you have an honest soul? Hands that Touch; A Handful of Saints; and King Henry VIII holds all power in his Hands
Bellowing Boys and Bells
‘I never had no head, sir’ said Leaf, Under the Greenwood Tree; Pepys’ Progress; and Kindness in Cranford. 🌳
John Clare’s Invitation to his Love; and poor Leaf’s Grief
The Splendour of Sherborne House; the Dolour of Division; and the Duke of Suffolk Raptly Rebuked;
We celebrate Ambrose, the influential Bishop of Milan; and Dick Dewey returns a lady’s handkerchief
Robert Frost and John Clare; Flu en Famille; A Cardinal’s Point; and Dick dances away with Miss Day
Pepys and the Buffleheaded Mayor; Dick Dewey’s Pains of Jealousy; and George Eliot’s Exquisite Observations
Sherborne Abbey Porch provides shelter; Dick Dewey is Smitten; and Gretel lights Candles
Hardy: The Insult Lies in the Nothingness of the Deed; Ode to Nanny; Pepys; Saints; and Queen Catherine rocks
A Daughter in Les Misérables; A Full Super Moon; and Under the Greenwood Tree forces Gretel into song
A Bunion is Given Consideration by Mellstock’s Shoemaker
Sir Simon Jenkins, talks of his twin passions for politics and architecture; and Gretel lets herself and all Dorset folk down on day two of Under the Greenwood Tree
‘To Dwellers in a Wood almost every Species of Tree has its Voice as well as its Feature’
Picts Gathering Like Swarms of Ants 🐜; Norman English Architecture; a Tidbit of Thomas Hardy; and France Woos Wolsey
Pepys Leaps his Garden Fence; Mr Oldinport Squeezes his Tenants; and a Mother’s Dead Hand
Meet Grimy and Dirty Dame Fripp; and Watch as Splendid Cardinal Wolsey Weeps in Canterbury
A Quiet Evening of Readings, from the Poignant, through Baffling, to Scholarly
We visit a 12th Century Somerset Church; Rev Amos Barton buries his Wife; and we celebrate the Life of Congar
Anne Boleyn is Denied Marriage to Lord Percy; The Stair Where You Sit; Saint Catherine of Alexandria
We visit Tess of the D’Urbevilles’ village, church and baby’s ’grave’
In Praise of The Rest is History and The History of England podcasts; The Blackmore Vale; and Cardinal Wolsey’s Banquet
The Dream of the Rood; Samuel Pepys’ Fury; and the mighty Columbanus
King Eadmund chooses Martyrdom; Hurrah for Nanny; and Wilfrid masterminds a Moment in Time at Ripon
Edgar Allan Poe delights; Rev Barton angers; Mrs Pepys fret; and Gretel delves too densely into medieval ecclesiastical conflict.
The Almoner rises to Henry VIII’s favourite; 1663 begins; and time is stilled by Emily Dickinson
Cavendish begins his Life of Cardinal Wolsey; the Rev Bartons receive a surprise Guest; and John Clare takes us to the bountiful Hedgerows
Samuel Pepys ends 1662 contentedly; and a Scattering of Ponderings by the Meadow
American Civil War; Chad steals Wilfrid’s See; and Christianity as shared currency
St Edwold’s Church; and George Eliot’s Genius
Galsworthy’s Little John Sleeps at Last, with John Clare Floating Us to a Gentle Place
Gretel drinks from the Well of Loquaciousness in Sherborne Abbey’s Nooks and her Memories’ Military Crannies; Saint Wilfrid and Other Saints; An Anglo-Saxon Poem; and a Lithping George Eliot
John Galsworthy: he was filled to the brim of his soul with restlessness and the want of something - not a tree, not a gun - something soft.
John Galsworthy’s Awakening; The Howards; Saint Wilfrid becomes Bishop; and Clerical Fuss and Nonsense with George Eliot
17th Century Marital Strife; Rev Barton’s Wife Warms his Slippers; and Shakespeare Ponders the Brave Day sunk in Hideous Night
To Discern and Love Sincerity of Purpose; and an Anglo-Saxon Seafarer
Sincerity of Purpose in Shepperton; Athelhampton; and Wilfred’s X-Factor
This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Dorset Churches; Remembrance Bells; and Sherborne School
A happy marriage in the Pepys household; The Seafarer; and Saint Willibrord
The Swollen Moon; Templecombe Church; and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Wherefore no man grows wise without he have his share of winters
Sir Walter Scott; A Brace of Saints; and Good Samuel Pepys
Beowulf, Bede and a Glaswegian Cabbie
Widsith, Alfred and Gratitude
A Line in the Sand ↗️
Anglo-Saxon Mood Music with Chastisement and Ruin
The Evolution of Church Architecture; Saint Frideswide and Gretel climbs a Bell Tower 🔔
A Somerset church and wonderful May; Goats, cows, sheep abound; and Pepys whips his poor boy until he own up to his lies
The Hedgehogs are Awake still; Philippa Langley; Pepys collects the Portuguese Queen’s Dowry; and there is an Embarrassment of Ponderations 🥴
Three Men (and a 🐕) out of their Boat; a Medley of Saints; accompanied by Jackdaws and Robins
Buckfast Abbey; John Clare and Saints Bruno and Foy.
An Unexpected Chat with Genius Composer Matthew Coleridge; and the beautiful sounds within Sherborne Abbey
Autumnal Interlude 🍁🍂🦔
A Murmuration of Ponderings; Pepys visits Portsmouth & Southampton; A Note on Medieval Church Monuments; and The Great War Blights Families, Communities and the Minds of the Returning Men
A Teeny Witter or Interlude
The George and Dragon at Wargrave; Montmorency burns his Snout; and Gretel heads for Essex
Montmorency Retreats from The Cat; Pepys is Revolted by a Floating Corpse; and Elgar ends our Ponder 🌝
Montmorency does not like Cats 🐈⬛; The Knave of Knaresborough; and Exmoor is depicted to Perfection
The Wind is finally in the Boat’s Favour; A meandering Ponder in the Garden; and we celebrate Maurice and Matthew
Pepys Sings Gaze Not Upon Swans 🦢; Three Men and Their Boat; and we ponder the ancient Washing of Feet and Hands 🙌🏻
A Cut-short mini episode with Mr Katt and a Delightful lady in Dunster Museum
Pomp & Circumstance; From Trenches to Moon’s Dug-out; and Romeo & Juliet’s terrible First Performance
Elgar, Wordsworth, Tracks, Midweek Music and Saints
Philip Mould OBE, Art Historian and Lovely Chap, chats to Gretel about Art
Gretel aborts a launch into Egyptian Monasticism; and goes down a Sutton Hoo rabbit-hole
Three Men and their Boat get to Walton; We ponder St Gregory’s Mission in Kent; and Mr Robin barks at the Magpies
A few gentle ponders and reads from a Dorset garden. The swifts are gone but the crows 🐦⬛ are filling the vacuum 🌳
Poor Harris attempts his ‘Comic Song’; and Bede tells of Cuthbert’s shutting himself away, all in the delightful Dorset Drizzle 🌧️
Tiny Episode visiting St Andrews, Trent.
Hampton Court Maze baffles Harris; You mustn’t argue with an English Person’s comment on the Weather; and we Feast Saint Aidan
New Technology turns Gretel Professional 🤓; a Return to Milborne Port in a Thunderstorm; and Delicious Readings
English Rules of Conversation; and how Cuthbert ruled his monks at Lindesfarne
Episode Two: English Pub Etiquette, and Three Men climb aboard their Boat
The first of Two Episodes today: a Visit to St John the Evangelist, Milborne Port
A Monkish Fraud Exposed; Good Bishop Wilfred; and Three Men Prepare to go ABoating
A visit to the 14th Century Fiddleford Manor; while we continue accompanying Pepys and Jerome on their Progress
Join me as we read by the beautiful Somerset church of Corton Denham; then proceed to Sherborne Abbey to catch up with Three Men and are encouraged to throw out life’s lumber!
Three Men Prepare to go A-boating; The French and Spanish Ambassadors Fight over Precedence; and a Ponder over Tricky Familial Relationships
Montmorency isn’t keen on The Idea 🚤 🐕; B Omrani ponders the effect of Christianity on the English landscape 🪦; and Gretel is finding a Positive Path through Grief
The Saxon Shore Fort and Monastery of Reculver; and Pepys eats Grapes and Melons (millons) for the first time
Wuthering Heights, seasoned with a little Pepys 🤓
Gentle routine resumes with our readings: Bede, Pepys, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Book of Saints, closing with some Bijan Omrani
Bad People created by Good Intentions; Heathcliff and Cathy; and a History of the Salt Combe
Exploring the Wuthering and Extraordinary Heights; and Pondering the Problem with Ropes with Jerome K Jerome
Bus, Dock and Hotel are locations for tonight’s episode where we Gaze into the 15th Century
Who thus define it, say they more or less // Than this, that happiness is happiness
Salcombe Hubub; Exhausting Parenting; and Heathcliffe begs Cathy to come home
The Waters Lap at my Feet while Pondering the Decorated phase of Gothic Architecture; and then we are Overcome by the Wiley Windy Moors
How the Wind Blows around the Dreaded Matter of Class; and Thomas Hardy, by an admirer in 1940
Sweet Cyder is a Great Thing, writes T Hardy; Pepys remarks on King Charles II Ordinary Mien; and we Learn how to Diagnose the Birth of Gothic Architecture
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; Fever breaks out in London in Summer 1661; and we Ponder the Pre-Reformation English Church
Live at the Oval for Day 4 of the England/India Test; followed by Further Ponderings on the Cerne Giant
Norman/Romanesque Architecture; Cricket and Sidwell’s Feast Day
A Pile of Books with Tea, a cat 🐈, a bat 🦇 and a hedgehog 🦔 in a Dorset Garden 📚🤓
A stroll through an Enchanted Graveyard, where a loving Cat appeared to soothe my heart; and poor Pepys has Broken Brains
We go in on a little Pilgrimage to the Holy Well in Cerne Abbas. Come and touch the waters created [one understands 😬] by the Staff of St Augustine
Saint Olaf becomes Sain Tooley Street; Bells ring out for Tuesday practice; and Cuthbert prays in the Suffolk sea
Lynmouth and the 1952 Great Flood Disaster; Saint Christopher; and a passage from The Woodlanders
Medieval Cerne Abbas; A Merry Trio of Trollope, Bede & Pepys; and infiltration by Rooks, Gulls & Mozart 🤓
Good Aelfric teaches at Cerne Abbas and a worldly son coverts episcopal power in Trollope’s Barchester
Cuthbert, Pepys and the beginnings of Cerne’s Abbey
We dwell for a moment with heart-sore Giles Winterborne in Hardy’s The Woodlanders; We Spy a Roaming Hedgehog; and Celebrate the life of Bridget of Sweden
Hardy’s Woodlanders are out of sorts; Pepys’ life blossoms; and Swifts and Gulls whirl about Gretel’s garden
Boisil welcomes the boy Cuthbert; What’s the Point? And George Eliot ponders the delights of Cream, straight from the Udder
George Eliot’s Scenes of Clerical Life; Pepys learns that Britain is part of the European continent; and stubborn Cuthbert finds food
The Preservation of Churches; A visit to South Cadbury’s Parish Church; and St Cuthbert watches Aidan’s soul rise to Heaven
The Life of Cuthbert
Bells and Swifts; Hardy and Bede; Mozart and Pepys 😊
We visit St Michael’s Over Compton on the Dorset / Somerset Border and discover a wonderful local tradition rooted in village divisions at the time of the Civil War
We join Pepys for Charles II’s Coronation, with a drunken end to the day; and enfin Bede is our guest, beginning his history of Cuthbert’s life.
A Happy Monday with England winning the Third Test; Pepys wears velvet to watch the pre-Coronation procession; and Bede is our guest once again 🤓
‘The Physiognomy of a Deserted Highway’; Inappropriate Pepys; and a Leaping Dog
We ponder English cottages and The Rule of Benedict in hot Dorset garden
Grace visits Sherton (Sherborne) in Hardy’s The Woodlanders, to follow her heart; accompanied by seagulls and Mr Katt
We visit Sherborne’s 12th Century Old Castle 🏰
The English Village and the Sherborne Conduit
Kent becomes Christian once more; Choral Music soothes; and Pepys judges Charles II and his brother quite ordinary.
Pepys’ thoughts on the King; Childhood Music; and the Debate continues
Horace Walpole counters Thomas More in The Great Debate; and we Ponder Early Christianity in Cornwall
Murder of Princes; Time to Stop and Stare; the Cornish Sea and Sore Hearts
A Lost Episode; Thomas More speaks the apparent final concerned words of Edward IV; and we look forward to time by the Cornish Coast
Covid Returns; Dunstan’s early life in Glastonbury; and poor Oliver Plunkett
A return to a Dorset garden where Thomas More tells of Richard III’s pitiless cruelty; Samuel Pepys turns 28; and we ponder Saint Peter
A hot June day, out and about in Bury St Edmunds
We’re back in beautiful Bury St Edmund’s; Visit the resting place of Martha’s Vineyard’s Marthas; & ponder the origins and development of Peterborough 🌟
The Dastardly Richard III, by Thomas More; and the Slaughter of the Fowls on a Sultry Saturday
St Wulfsige and Dunstan; Cyril of Alexander; and Mrs Bat 🦇
A Gold Ring Found; Cromwell’s Head in the eaves of Westminster Hall; and Bede tells of Cuthbert’s childhood as Gretel watches the sunrise 🌅
Bede uses the phrase ‘hair-splitting’; dead Cromwell is hanged at Tyburn; and we ponder the Royal Bones in Sherborne Abbey
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Dunstan, Pepys and Bede
Charles Dickens writes of New Year’s Eve; Saint Etheldreda and Ponderings on Grief
The Boisterous Royal Ascot, Pepys and young Dunstan
An Introduction to the Great Dunstan on a Warm Solstice Eve
The bells ring and we ponder English Houses with Betjeman
Poor Henchard contemplates the River below; and we ponder London with a woeful extract from John Betjeman
John Betjeman on Churchyards; we close the year 1660; and remember St Alban
Blue Peter in 1971; the resetting of Canterbury Cathedral’s East End and a Wistful John Clare
Pepys, St Vitus and Medieval Power Play in Canterbury
We visit Thomas Hardy’s childhood church, St Michael’s Stinsford, and catch a little of the King’s Birthday Parade. 🇬🇧
Pepys eats Neat’s Tongue; we celebrate Leo III and Anthony of Padua; and ponder Canterbury Cathedral’s Crypt
Evolution of Canterbury Cathedral; Pepys wants to inspect his Mother’s Kidney Stone; and we ponder the Perpendicular
Pepys Prospers; we ponder the Decorated Gothic Period and T Hardy lulls with his gentle Poetry
Canterbury Part III
Canterbury Part II
Canterbury Part I
Early English Churches; Early Cornish and Irish Christianity; and Archbishop Mellitus
Norbert’s Day; Pepys has Diaper Napkins; and Pevsner describe Sherborne Old Castle
A Wessex Poem; Poor Boniface is Murdered as an Old Man; and Pepys falls out with his Wife
Hardy’s poignant poetry; and Pepys hears Organ music in Westminster for the first time.
Saxon Crosses; Hardy’s education; and a Rainy Tuesday
We discover Iona was called Hii; dear Walter Scott woos our hearts; and Pepys ruefully clocks the severed limbs of ‘traytors’
Pepys watches the death of a Regicide; we ponder Egdon Heath and celebrate a clutch of Saints
Pepys is taken aback by grand Clerical Vestments; we commemorate poor Jeanne D’Arc; and we visit Thomas Hardy in his home
Possible Ghost of Emma Gifford sings in her old Church St Juliot’s; Witchery in Boscastle; and Bloodlines
Pepys drinks his first Cupp of Tea 🫖 while we take a walk among grasses and graves.
Cornish sounds; Hengist and Horsa; and an evening visit to a cliff-top Church
The Venerable Bede: a Celebration
Origins of Oratorios; Saint Augustine’s Feast Day; and Pepys discusses whether True Argument is at the Heart of a good Tragedie
Saints, Celtic Christians, a thieving Servant, and we make a start on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
We remember David of Scotland 🏴; Celebrate France 🇫🇷; Ponder human nature; and eagerly anticipate tonight’s episode where we begin…
A tour inside a 1533 Chancel that’s lost its Nave; Why the Lord Chancellor sits atop a Bale of Wool; and we hear Swallows, Warblers and Long-Tailed Tits
A Litter of Puppies for Pepys; The Abingdon Manuscript; and good William of Rochester.
The Winchester Chronicle, The Court of Pleas and Pepys buys Lobster 🦞
A Deep Ponder on Universal Trials of Life
Hares, Saints and Rain
The early 19th Century Microcosm of London by Pugin and Rawlinson; Mr Wren accompanies Pepy’s Diaries
The Restoration was about restoring Parliament’s Sovereignty, says W Churchill, brilliantly; and we reflect on the great St Dunstan
The Sherborne Abbey Fire of 1437: Townsman against Monk; A Fateful Font Fight
Grief; Saint Madron; Birdsong and a fretful Pepys
Brendan the Navigator, Carantoc, Peregrine of Auxerre and Simon Stock; meanwhile Churchill discusses pre-Restoration power-play; and dear Pepys’ wench takes abed
Early English Gothic; the Psychiatric Innovations of Gheel; and Pepys returns to his Wife’s warm bed.
Emily Dickinson; Matthias the Apostle; and poor Pepys awakes Bed-Wetted and missing his beloved Wife
King Charles II arrives at Dover; his long trials at an end. General Monke and Charles play these Restoration days exquisitely.
Winston Churchill tells of the build-up the The Anarchy after an Old King loses his beloved teenage son; We ponder the possible suppression by Lanfranc of unorthodox Celtic Saints; and Pepys discovers beautiful Delft
Pepys organises the painting of the new King’s Arms
Fascinating Irish Saints and a happy May Day in 1660 London
Tom Holland talks Podcasts, Donald Trump, and the joys of cricket
Cerne Abbas, spilt wine and Pepys plays ninepins
Pepys’ Progress and a Blackbird 🐦⬛
A Sombre Wednesday; Painting for the first time as an Adult; and Pepys commemorates his Stone Operation
National Treasure and priest Angela Tilbury chats about grief and her new book; and author Andrew Heavens discusses his fascinating book The Prince and the Plunder
An Interview with Author Bijan Omrani who discusses his book God is an Englishman: Christianity and the Creation of England
An introduction to the author Bijan Omrani and Pepys worries for his Wife in preparing for his Sea Voyage
Dear Samuel Pepys tells that all London doth now toast the health of King Charles
Pepys toasts the King, as the Restoration appears inevitable; and we touch on dear Bede once more, to explore his early Influence
Welcome to Friday evening’s progress with Pepys, the Saints, with a bit of live Bach. And - huge joy - the swifts have returned!
All of London joyfully watches and applauds every step of General Monke.
Pepys talks of wine, General Monke, unpaid soldiers and huge buttocks in today’s episode; To pick up the ashes or not?
Garden birds, Saint Catherine of Siena and we finish Pepys’ first month
Pepys takes us into his world where it is a cold and frosty January and no-one knows how the country will be governed.
The Diary (wonderful, fascinating and joyful) of Samuel Pepys. Day One: let’s go 🤗🤓
A Visit to Thomas Hardy’s cottage; and a Tender Farewell to Bede in his own Words
Saint Mark is remembered; Eustacia is rebuked and we hear of Bede’s death from Saint Cuthbert
We come to the end! A tender close to Bede’s Ecclesiastical History
Saint George’s Day! 🏴 Witches 🧙 of Dorset; a piece of perfection from Thomas Hardy
An evening Ponder; history of St Edmundsbury; a trio of Saints and the Tonsure Matter
Spooky Easter Evening Wanderings in Bury St Edmund’s; Caedwalla and other Saints; and finally we understand Easter dating 😊
An impromptu chat Revd Canon Mark Haworth after Evensong in St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk; a family visit for Easter Sunday
The magnificent achievements of the Scriptoriums. And more dense ‘explanation’ of the Easter problem. 🤓
Good Friday! Mozart and Easter.
Sunshine in Dorset as we learn of Bernadette of Lourdes; We ponder most people are seeking to be kind; and King of the Picts shows us how Dilpmacy is done.
Norman the Photographer; an Arundel Church and Bede’s Progress
An art exhibition at the National Gallery; Downing Street Preacher; Grievous Tears and Obscure Celtish Saints
A Blackbird, Tudor houses and Abbey Music
We visit Arundel Castle and climb the Norman Keep; Two April Saints and the death of Wilfrid
A trip to Arundel; more tales of Wilfred’s life
The Count of Mortain’s Cornish land; a Great Tit; Wilfred’s early life and Ponderings on Church and State
Some Solitude from May Sarton, the Norman Arch and our own Aldhelm
A trip to see Hamilton with a happy daughter; and Parakeets in St James’s Park
Green grass and blue skies in England are the beautiful backdrop to this evening’s ponderings 🌻
Organ music from Evensong; a Salad of Saints and a Marvellous description of pre-Crusade Jerusalem and Bethlehem
The Great Gatsby’s prescient diagnosis of America; a very persistent Wren; Abbey bells a-calling; and the founding of Shaftesbury.
Ponderings on Melancholia; More strange Saints and yet another Tale of Alarm from our Pious Friend of Yore
Murder in medieval Cornwall; St Ambrose and our Venerable Bede 🤓
Origins St Gennys Church in North Cornwall; Today’s two Saints; and a warm Hello 👋
Dorset Smugglers; Naked Welsh Saints and the sound of the Atlantic Ocean. Welcome to Cornwall 🤗
The Alchemy of Poetry; More on Roman Roads; and Bede conjures up devilish imaginings
Evidence for Roman Roads into Cornwall; and Bede tells of testimony of a man who rose from death.
Commemorating today’s Saints; Early English architecture and our Gentle Bede
River sounds; Crying a river; Poorly Doggo and Marvellous Alfred.
Come to Thomas Hardy’s land of birth, passing a Roman Road; and then let’s hear of a double murder
Alfred the Great, master strategist, creates currency from oaths.
A spring visit to a pretty Dorset church; and King Alfred burns the cakes.
Live violin 🎻 magic from Dorset Fiddlers; and pondering that Wonder and Beauty often springs from cracks and imperfections.
A Grandson on losing his Grandma; and a return home to routine and restful reality.
The dreadfulness of crematoriums. What a forlorn end to a wonderful life. And so we read about Gothic architecture to clear the mind and cleanse the palette.
Histories of Four Saints and Throwing Control to the Four Winds; the Serenity to accept the Things we Cannot Change is Hard to Harness
We learn about popular Saint Patrick, for whom many Guinnesses will have been drunk today. Melancholy as a quiet, tidal emotion.
A Happy Sunday with Family and Sunshine; Wise words from a Young Girl; and Gentle Bede
A Few Quiet Readings.
Ponderings on the some of the consequences of the Norman Conquest; and Bede tells of yet another miracle
Churchill tells of early Celtic Christianity; and we progress with Bede as Doggo dreams fitfully ☺️
Leaning into the wind, with a few new books at my elbow; and Bede’s Fifth Book begun on Farne Island.
Winchester Cathedral offers balm to the soul after holding my mother’s hand for the last time.
Glorious, Delicious Southwark; a Forlorn return to Chelsea; and we close Bede’s 4th Book 🤓
The Making of the Thames and the Middlesex Saucer; Quiet Bede accompanied by the practising Choir of Sherborne Abbey
Do you know your ‘Wics’? Gretel goes deep into Middlesex; Poor Bede can’t let Cuthbert go; but he’s not like Binker
Grief is Tough; a Robin visits; the Irish Famine and the death of Cuthbert
Filial bell-ringing; Queen Victoria rejects anti-semitism; a word on Diocletian; and Cuthbert enthrals his fellows.
Calm readings with cat on lap, candles lit and tea by my side. In history we find comfort for it right-sizes the present times.
More Adventures in Stratford-upon-Avon, in the Guild Chapel, the Swan Theatre, and with actor Enzo Cilenti in the Dirty Duck pub.
A trip to Stratford-upon-Avon with Bede
Taking the Somerset air and contemplating a forthcoming exhibition Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300-1350; Roman roads and more chatterings from Bede
A second time in two weeks to lie next to a human in love and protection.
A Wessex Wander and Progress with Churchill and Bede’s histories. Aching for my mother. 😔
Darkness and Light after Death; and Tom Holland brings some Comfort 🌷
Oh Let us have Valiant Hearts; Gratitude for Kindness; and the Legacy of Hilde
The Church of Lady St Mary, Wareham; and Hilde of Whitby.
Ponderings on Grief, a little Mozart, and Venerable Bede tells of a Veritable Samson
Elgar’s Enigma Variations; Sea-Swimming and Gentle Bede
Exploring Wareham; the Romans look back to the Danube; and we prepare for Bede’s hymn to the Virgin Queen 😬🫖
A trip to Wareham to visit the Saxon church of St Martin; and Bede talks of bones, virgins and eels 🤓
Not Waving but Drowning; the Birds bring Joy; as do Books 📚
Boy, this is tough! Grief overwhelms; Suetonius finally overwhelms the Britons; and monks flock to hear chanting superstar John
A Candle lit in the Abbey; Early Roof Construction in Churches; and Dark Deals regarding the Isle of Wight are recounted by Bede
The Beginning of The Rest of My Life; Let’s Read about Chelsea
A Cold Day of Calm after the Storm;
Home for Respite after a terrible morning; Churchill tells us of Boudicca
Warrior Mother; Carlyle’s Truth-Forged approach to writing about the French Revolution 🇫🇷; and Venerable, gentle Bede.
By my bed stay awhile, and read of Thomas Carlyle
Episode 131, February 13th 🫖
Not ready! A foolish lament. Pubs as cosy cocoons; and Bede tries to get heard over the London punters. Wednesday oft is weaved of woe. 🫖
One Day at a Time, and Finding Peace within. With the help of gentle readings.
Good evening let’s ponder about London, hospitals and losing track in Bede’s narrative
A Dash from Dorset to London
Hallelujah, it’s time for Saturday histories.
Mr Katt battles for the lap as he’s told stories of Caesar and long-dead Nuns
February is Spring's Promise; A visit to a hidden Dorset hamlet ; and Caesar is surprised by the turning tides
A peek into Sherborne Abbey; Norman Churches; and the Iron Age
A Windy Bridge-Crossing and Historical Musings
High hopes and Gratitude are our Sword and Shield; Julius Caesar sniffs the English shores; and Bede records some sensible Synodical Decisions
Another visit to Mr Robin and the Church at Corton Denham; we finish Winston Churchill’s marvellous Preface to his History
Sadness; Sherborne’s Conduit; and Remembering Chad
Les oiseaux, Churchill’s History and Chad’s last hours; our first garden pot of tea 🫖
Sherborne Bells strike Twelve; Spring Birds Gladden the Heart; Churchill's Preface to his History; and Bede
Hallelujah for Handel; London Dining in 1915 and Catholicism blooms in England
Bell-ringing, AA Milne poetry and Book Four begun
The streets of London; listening in to Choir Practice (and weeping); A message of love to dear America 🇺🇸 and we close Book Three with Bede
Epiphany Service at Chelsea Old Church, Finding Peace in beautiful old Buildings, and Bede
A London Mooch About with Bede in my Back-Pocket
Rural society in the 1840s; the Ubiquity of Social Division; and our dear Bede
Seagulls swirl over Sherborne Abbey; their Freedom contrasting with the poor condemned of Newgate Gaol. Charles Dickens at his descriptive best.
A Visit, by Charles Dickens, to Newgate Gaol; and Bede tells of the Goodness of the Northumbrian Clergy
A Gentle Zooming in on Thomas Hardy’s Under The Greenwood Tree
Hope is the Thing with Feathers; a Walk in the Meadow; and Easter is settled
An introduction to Thomas Hardy from 1940 and more Easter arguments
Sunday is Music Day 😀; Saxon Costume; The Arguments about Easter rumble on
Housewives’ tips from the Abbey bench; Saxon clothing; and Bede frets again about Easter
Home Sweet Home with special guest Mr Katt as we read about the American Civil War before our friend Bede
Podcasting from a Battersea Care Home, Chelsea History, a Choir Practice and a Saxon Princess offered to God
An explanation for Episode 100 and a Bede tells of a boy’s survival
Tony Slattery’s best friend Erica talks to the podcast of her sadness
Noisy bird-fellows by the Thames; Friendship; Tea and Gentle Bede
A Full Moon in Vibrant London; in the company of our Venerable friend
Sunday remembrances of Flodden Field and the power of Iona
Hello let’s look at January’s sparkling 🌔 and wonder about life 🤗
Friday poems and readings: a gentle end to the week.
Welcome to Thursday night’s gentle pondering and readings
Love, not embarrassment, for one’s roots; Dick Dewy and Fancy Day get ready for their pretty marriage; and more wisdom from Ireland
A Joyful Tuesday of literature, children, birds and Bede
An Owl, Family Pressures and The Candle of the North 🕯️
The Three Kings Carol live from Sherborne Abbey and Aidan Protects Bamburgh from the Flames 🔥
The Still Small Voice of Wisdom; the Shape of Trees and Aidan’s Miracles
Frosty Friday the third; time to right-size and humble Aidan
A Winter’s Visit to a Secret Church, Self-Pity and Oswiu
A quiet start to 2025 with Pepys and Bede
A Happy New Year from Baedeker and Bede
A night in Oxford and a visit to the Ashmolean Museum
Syrian monasticism, Somerset Ham Stone and Miracles after the death of Oswald
Early Holy Land Monasticism; Charles II is visited by Russians and Oswald is killed in Battle
Twixt Yule and Year End 🕯️😊
Double Bede for Boxing Day
Christmas Day ⭐️
Music, Carols and Early Irish Christians ⭐️
Canadian wolves and bears; and St Columba is given Iona
Under the Greenwood Tree and the history of Oswald
The Sun Stands Still, and the wind curls round Gretel in Castleton
A Christmas Carol and King Oswald
A Thursday evening Robin and Bede takes us to Book Three
Achingly beautiful words by Walter Scott from 1806
Tuesday gratitude and the death of poor Edwin
Monday magic Moon and a reading by the Abbey
Completing Charles II Coronation Day and Bede
Organ Music, Tears, A Coronation and a Clever Pope
We march onwards with Bede
A day of bustle in festive Londres with Fabritius, the Christmas Tree and David Tennant
Rowdy London, Serene Leanda de Lisle and a 12th Century Church
Gretel takes you to a river and inside an Abbey for some quiet ponderings. 🎄😀
Old and New Sherborne Castles
Thomas Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree on Christmas morning; and King Edwin receives a holy visitor.
Sherborne, Betjeman and Bede. Welcome!
A Graveyard, an Apology, Pepys and a Wily Pope
Fifth day in December, by a Dorset river and listening to the extraordinary words of Pope Boniface to a long-dead British king ✨
Thomas Hardy and Pepys join Bede for todays episode with peaceful Gretel
Come inside an old Bishops Caundle Church 🤓
Fear, Families from the Past, Abbey Bells and a Pallium given
Winter and Advent Cometh 😊🔔
Must be Santa, Advent Eve, Cnut and Mellitus. 🔔
The Darkling Thrush, the Nightingale and the death of Aethelberht
Thursday shenanigans with Gretel 🥳
Gentle midweek pondering by river and readings in the darkening garden.
Hurrah for Home! And the return of our Venerable Bede.
Monday dash to London, leaving Bede in Dorset. Germany’s history to the rescue 🇩🇪
Thomas Hardy, John Clare and a stormy Sunday; while Augustine bullies the Britons
A windy walk to Sherborne Abbey, a look inside, and a famous passage from Bede’s history.
Pope Gregory dies and we look back on his life.
Thomas of Canterbury on a snowy Thursday, and a new book in Bede’s histories
Having courage of mind, English hedges, and our Venerable companion closes Book 1.
Dissonance, the marvellous Weekend Book and Pope Gregory charms King Aethelberht 🌳
The greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason
Sunday ponderings about Hampstead Heath, Byron and Pope Gregory's pragmatic view on pagan shrines
A Bleak Saturday dash to London
Country soundscapes, church crawling and Bede
Saxon Churches and Bede on a Thursday evening
Malmesbury ahoy! And Bede discusses the sin of night-time ‘illusions’.
Tuesday with Dunstan, Aldhelm and Bede
St Augustine asks his boss awkward questions about women, sex and menstruation
Remembrance; Bedlam Hospital and Bede.
Shelley, Sherborne, Scriptoriums and St Augustine 🍂
Overcoming dread, old Wessex and St Augustine give us a gentle time to pause
Gretel takes you inside a very old church in the Somerset Hills before our progress with St Augustine
Join me for a gentle twenty minutes of historical readings and a few ponderings.
A wearisome day, put to bed with our usual peaceful readings.
Cosy candle-lit readings and ponderings on a Monday afternoon 🤓
A drizzle, damp Sunday, with seagulls, history books and the wind for company
London churches and Bede
A new month of life and loss with Gretel and the ecclesiastical history of England with Bede 🤓
Halloween Thursday with Gretel and Bede. Families can be tricky
Please do join me as we continue with Bede’s progress 🤓
A quiet Tuesday in the new Anglo-Saxon Englannd
Quiet Monday at Rotten Row with our Venerable friend
Sunday with Mr Katt, Hyde Park and marauding Saxons 🤓
Gretel makes a mistake while the birds chirrup merrily and Bede tells of incoming Anglo-Saxons
Bede takes centre stage as we return to England 🌅
Thursday in Paris. A balmy day at the Louvre 🇫🇷
Bonjour! C’est Mercredi. Holiday ponderings and chaotic times told by Monsieur Vénérable 🤓🇫🇷
Bonsoir mes amis. 🌞 Paris, the National Anthem and Monsieur Bede
Monday good cheer and Bede
Welcome to Sunday rain, The Cheshire Cheese and Bede
A jittery Saturday from Bede to Tyburn Gallows
An eleventh day of short musings with Gretel, Bede and a bit of Baedeker’s Primrose Hill.
Shine on Harvest Moon with autumn 🍂 sunshine, Gretel and Bede
Please join me on day nine for nine quiet minutes. 🌳
Eleanor Farjeon and Bede share a platform on this eighth day of podpondering with Gretel 🙋♀️🌳
A Monday muse with Gretel, the dog and Bede. Come join us. 🤓
A potter with Bede around Corton Denham
A candlelight muse with Bede on a fifth day.
Gretel goes forth with Bede on day four. Wishing everyone a restful Friday evening.
The Birds and the Bede. Come join me for day three, walking in the Dorset woods.
Grief and Bede. Come join me in the library for day two.