Being part of a bigger story

The first series of WDYTYA? aired in 2004, and I started working on the programme two years later. My first episodes were broadcast in 2007 and featured rower Matthew Pinsent and actor John Hurt, and

I have just read Diane Lindsay’s piece (FT June) about decluttering. That did ring a large bell. I have been doing family history for something like 65 years. I have managed to file a lot of the infor

Dear Simon, The history of Pitman shorthand told by Angeline Wilcox in the July edition of Best of British (Write on Time) evoked so many memories. I was amazed to learn that Isaac Pitman actually cre

If you’ve been researching family history for a while, you’ve already lived through one revolution, the shift from physical to remote research. Not so long ago, being a family historian meant spending

I experienced a range of emotions when Hodder & Stoughton sent me the contract for my first book, One Hundred Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human. I was excited, knowing my first book was being publishe

DNA is a wonderful resource and I am so glad I decided to take a test way back in 2017 – but little did I know where it would lead me and the things I would discover. Some of the outcomes have been wo