‘A man, a plan, a canal – Panama’ is a well-known palindrome, readable forwards and backwards. Cheshire, salt and canals are also firmly linked back and forth, but how they came together and continue to twist and weave is extraordinary. Along the way there was competition, dispute, rivalry, and grand plans that never happened. Plenty of people had a stake in ‘re-organising nature’… Romans, Dutch, Russians, often surprisingly. We trace historical origins but also consider social and environmental effects in present-day canal cities and zones around the world.
Views: 438 | Enquiries: 1Landscapes, history, travel, art and language – now that’s a set of themes to think about. If you’re curious, join me as we share insights and intrigues with some fascinating ‘explores’ of the stories behind everyday life. Always I aim to weave landscape, local and social histories with visible heritage in the present day. My talks aim to be fun, light-hearted and as interactive as possible. Often they come with added Antipodean perspectives as I’m Cheshire-born but Australian-bred.
I love speaking to all kinds of audiences. So far these have included history and heritage societies, cultural tours, garden clubs, community groups, WI, PROBUS, and U3A. A post-graduate degree and twenty years in the heritage sector have been stuffed with stimulus - excavating and interpreting archaeological sites, leading guided walks, putting on museum exhibitions. I’ve performed poetry at a convention in a Normandy village, and guested on regional radio. Further enjoyable encounters, this time with language and culture, came from teaching English to students from Spain to Siberia. Along with all that I’m a published writer with well over a hundred articles in periodicals from local to international. I live near mid-Cheshire’s scenic waterways.
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