Does anyone have a contact for Peter Davies of Brislington? During the time of compiling the account of Brislington in World War 1, Mr PETE DAVIES contacted me and visited me several times regarding his ancestral family, VEAL, of Brislington. Private Frederick William Veal survived the First World War but shortly afterwards while still serving in France tragically died in 1919 in a drowning accident. His comrade Corporal Hubert Dingley bravely tried to save him without success. Fred Veal’s father, also Frederick,...
“They are forc’d to spread it upon a Board and so pick out with their hands the trash and stones that remain.” In a previous blog, I wrote about a Lindegaard family visit to...
They say that in the Navy the girls are very fine Some like Betty Grable and some like Frankenstein No! I don’t want no more a Navy life Gee but I wanna go, but...
On 16 June 2026, out of the blue, I received this email from the Girl Guides Association of St Lucia, an archipelago in the Caribbean. Good day, I do not wish to be a...
Hello, I just wanted to let my readership know that I am alive and well and writing copiously. It’s been ages since my last blog but rest assured I am still working on new...
In the Beginning was the Word. I have always soaked up random knowledge like a sponge, which explains a slavish devotion to University Challenge, (pride in my infinitesimal contribution of right answers), and perhaps...
It may seem strange to start with an obituary, but this is the way I first came across Helen, when I was filling in the background to our Irish holiday, April 2025. For Helen’s...
This is one of those blogs which starts off with one subject and lands up with another, connected, but completely unexpected. Whilst I was drawn to the desolate beauty of the island, surrounded by...
During research to complete my series “Wanton Wenches & Incorrigible Rogues”, I came across this amazing and valuable piece of work. As several of my current protagonists – ones in whom I have a...
In our house, Valentia Island is iconic. If you knew the hair-raising, but much mocked, story of George’s first visit there, more than 70 years ago, with his Mum to buy a pig’s head...
I have been researching the social history of the West Country for 50+ years. During this time I have collated information on a wide range of people living and working in the West Country including miners, ethnic minorities, petty criminals, sailors, tommies, benefactors, brassmakers and many more. The thing that I find amazing is that ordinary people always lived extraordinary lives. I hope you like my blog that brings together my lifetime of research.
My life on the Ocean Wave: “Some like Betty Grable….”
02 September 2026
Miracles take a little longer: Dorothy Vinter and me.
29 August 2026
