For many years, I’ve taught a third year module at Sheffield Hallam University on the social and cultural history of the north of England. Here, inspired by that module, I explore histories, stories and ideas, relating to my adopted home. Expect book reviews, theatre, art, public history, walks and more… This is the stuff of my everyday life, and it keeps me sharp.

Image: Performing the north? Lovely wood carving of a pigeon fancier (Steve Iredale, 2011), outside Skinningthorpe Homing Society, taken on a chihuaha-sitting trip in Saltburn-by-the-sea, April 2025.