Recently launched the next online shindig. More info & bookings, here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reinterpre...

Newly arrived in The Book Nook...

I'm sad to learn of the passing of the folklorist Neil Philip. He was, without doubt, the foremost scholar on the work of Alan Garner. Neil was supportive and enthusiastic about The Weirdstone Walk and I incorporated his thoughts in the project. Farewell! 📸 Cunning Folk

Neat meeting with a film director this morning about a shoot this spring. Be good to get buildings archaeology back in front of a camera. Genuinely happens very infrequently.

The next Triskele Heritage online talk is Reinterpreting Listed Buildings. It looks at why buildings were listed, what conditions were like for listing investigators, why many listings were short & inaccurate, plus how new research is pushing back dating. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reinterpre...

The next Triskele Heritage online talk is Reinterpreting Listed Buildings. It looks at why buildings were listed, what conditions were like for listing investigators, why many listings were short & inaccurate, plus how new research is pushing back dating. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reinterpre...

Merry has now become an integral part of Puddle. Typing this from under cat tummy. Cannot move. Getting weak. Send help...

Trapped.

I took this photo somewhere on the line of the Settle to Carlisle Railway one New Year's Day in the early 1990s. Possibly in the region of Aisgill (Cumbria). Could anyone help me to identify the snowy fell with the clouds rolling off it?

New addition to the study - a modern reproduction of Samuel & Nathaniel Buck's 1738 view of Norwich Castle. Important illustration as it shows the site before a lot of 19th century meddling went on.

Mediaeval Candlemas, 2 Feb, was marked by a candlelit procession which culminated in the priest giving the candles power over the devil. I suspect that many were retrieved and used to make apotropaic burn marks. More here: triskeleheritage.triskelepublishing.com/mediaeval-my... 📸 British Library

Much desired by all folklore fanatics. Sadly, I do not own a copy but a good pal is letting me spend a little time with her copy today.

A day up on the Yorkshire Moors with pals looking at crypts, crosses and country pubs 🕍✝️🍺

Bookseller: "They're ship timbers and the building over the road has a priest hole!" Me: "If you stocked my book - Historic Building Mythbusting - we wouldn't be having this conversation..."

This guy is giving drink to the thirsty. I look forward to meeting his latter day successor in Pickering this evening 🍺

Never happier than when goggling at garderobes. Diate Hill Tower, Pickering Castle, North Yorkshire. Early fourteenth century.

Been to survey an early modern house in Leicestershire today which had lots of reused mediaeval timbers. However, what *really* caught my eye was this blacksmith's forge complete with intact bellows. Apparently it was still in use until the 1970s 🔥⚒️

Last night Merry watched David Baddiel's Cat Man with i n t e n s i t y. We've had 5 cats in 16 years and have never seen one of them be quite *this* into the tellybox before!

TONIGHT!!

I'll be live online today at 7pmGMT talking about The Mediaeval Traveller... More info & bookings, here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

I'll be live online today at 7pmGMT talking about The Mediaeval Traveller... More info & bookings, here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

During tomorrow's online talk, I'll be looking at what inns were like for The Mediaeval Traveller - including the New Inn at Gloucester, dated 1432 and perhaps not quite the right name, huh!? More info & bookings: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

Dad wanted to go daydrinking to celebrate his 80th birthday. I reluctantly agreed. We're on pub number 2, here.

First gig of the year last night. Trip out to see me owd pal Rob fronting up Midnite City on their fifth album tour.

Live online this coming Wednesday. More info & bookings, here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

Live online this coming Wednesday. More info & bookings, here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

Somehow never spotted this apotropaic burn mark on the 1670s fireplace bressummer at Brewhouse Yard Museum in Nottingham. More on Burn Marks in Historic Buildings, here: triskeleheritage.triskelepublishing.com/mediaeval-my...

Have these guys been invited to join the Board of Peace yet?

This week I worked out that I have surveyed 60 houses in the last 10 years. Of those, 42 were listed buildings. 21 out of 42 were incorrectly dated in the listing, including this one: Wheelwrights at Kelham, Notts. Listed as 17C, survey revealed it was early 15C... 1/3 🧵

Roadcrew days. Junktion7, Nottingham. 2008.

In which Bucks Archives get on board with the tunnel mythbusting. The moment at 0.31 mins made me laugh out loud whilst on a busy rail service 😅🖤

I have just been sent a script which includes the phrase: "The film concludes with a final direct-to-camera moment with Dr Wright at the bar enjoying a pint." Darling, I was born to play the part.

"OI! Corporate developers! Stop intruding on burial grounds in your money-making schemes which then legally requires archaeological intervention!"

I really need to go to work but this is happening on my lap. I'm just going to send this photo to clients when they ask about missed deadlines. No caption. Just this photo.

In the 1540s, John Leland visited Worksop (Notts) and accused the monks of the priory of pinching stones from the castle... his boss *was* Henry VIII though! Come & find out more on the observations of The Mediaeval Traveller; online 7pmGMT on 28 January: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

In the 1540s, John Leland visited Worksop (Notts) and accused the monks of the priory of pinching stones from the castle... his boss *was* Henry VIII though! Come & find out more on the observations of The Mediaeval Traveller; online 7pmGMT on 28 January: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

Buildings That I'm Thinking About 1/2: Old Hall Farm, Kneesall (Notts), dated c 1536. One of the earliest lobby entrance buildings - in which the doorway opens into a lobby defined by the side of the chimney. Not found commonly in houses until later 16thC in SE England.

A heads up for speaker bookers, festival organisers, conference wranglers, & other events folk... I am getting a LOT of offers to appear all over the country. If you are thinking of booking me for something in 2026 please do holler soon as dates are getting scarce😎

The next Triskele Heritage winter lecture is happening next week. Please do feel free to share far and wide if you can 🙂 More info and bookings can be found here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

The next Triskele Heritage winter lecture is happening next week. Please do feel free to share far and wide if you can 🙂 More info and bookings can be found here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

I have to draft a Written Scheme of Investigation 🫢😴 In surely unrelated news, I have decided that my study floor definitely needs to be vacuumed 🤔🫣

In the 1180s Gerald of Wales described Manorbier as "the most pleasant place by far"... although as he was born there he may have been biased! Come & find out more about Gerald and other wayfarers in an online talk - The Mediaeval Traveller on 28 January: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

A heads up for speaker bookers, festival organisers, conference wranglers, & other events folk... I am getting a LOT of offers to appear all over the country. If you are thinking of booking me for something in 2026 please do holler soon as dates are getting scarce😎

‘Why do you live in a castle?’ he said, looking round. ‘Why not? Castles are meant to be lived in.’ Perceptive remark on the functions of castles from Lucy Boston in The Children of Green Knowe. It ain't all military! More on What is a Castle? triskeleheritage.triskelepublishing.com/2023/03/29/m...

In the 1180s Gerald of Wales described Manorbier as "the most pleasant place by far"... although as he was born there he may have been biased! Come & find out more about Gerald and other wayfarers in an online talk - The Mediaeval Traveller on 28 January: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

"UK send British officer to Greenland as part of European deployment" The officer.

Presume that in the Meadows (pronounced Medehs) area of Nottingham they are all mediaeval Catholics who strictly maintain that the traditional end of Christmas is not until Candlemas (2 February)?

Arrived at my in laws and popped my book down on the nearest clear surface. Went back later and realised that the Welsh folk tales had been called home by this Welsh spinning chair (sometimes called a love seat).

The audience at tonight's gig walked through this this sixteenth century church door at Newark. It is liberally covered with apotropaic burn marks... entirely appropriate as I was talking about ancient graffiti 🔥🕯👹

Always a good sign when they're wheeling out extra chairs 15 minutes before the gig happens because its already full! All ready for the first of two shows in Newark today and my first time of gobbing off in front of an in-person audience in 2026...