I am a passionate engaging historian. I actively encourage discussion, questioning and debate.

I give lessons online via zoom. I will send out reading lists and associated text via email beforehand.

Content includes:

Urban History: 'Taming the Beast, the birth of the modern city'. The 1840s were a key decade in the emergence of an urban industrial society. Improved transport, mechanisation of industry and rapid migration into urban centres, brought with it pressure on housing, education, sanitation and policing. This is the story of how towns and cities had to move from chaos to order in just a handful of years, creating structures such as local corporations and police forces to tame the urban beast. The impact on politics and society are still with us today.

Seaside History: 'Arcadia for All, the escape from Victorian seaside resorts in the 1930s'. Between the wars increasing personal mobility and the obsession with the outdoors, saw people wishing to build their own holiday home by the sea. It led to the appearance of self-build wooden bungalows, converted railway carriages, and virtually anything else that would keep out the weather, on the British coast. It raised fears of overdevelopment and its adverse aesthetic impact. The subsequent battle to tighten planning legislation, led to zonal planning and a loophole that saw the development of caravan sites. It was an era when Coco Chanel met Cleethorpes!

Transport History: 'The Emperor of Brazil, a Six Course Meal and a £46,000 Carpet'. In the early years of the railways, before dining cars were attached to trains, companies had to somehow feed huge numbers of travellers on long distance journeys. This is the story of how Anglo-Scottish express trains were halted for lunch. How were six courses consumed in thirty minutes? Where were these, often opulent, dining halls? How did the 'need for speed' see dining cars introduced and the lunch stops consigned to history. Railway catering has a long, and somewhat varied, history!