End of 2025 Thank You
The year 2025 has certainly been one of upheaval in many respects. It’s not been a good year health wise and at times, it has felt like a struggle because of that. There has also been a lot of outside stress too. There has been some good in it though. Both my history talks and guided walks have been going really well. I’ve enjoyed getting to know various groups and sharing history with very enthusiastic people. I would like to thank all the many people who have been along to a talk or tour this year, it’s been a lovely experience and I can’t wait to carry both of those things on into 2026.
My debut history book, my biography on Anthony Woodville entitled Anthony Woodville: Sophisticate or Schemer, was published in February 2024. I have been taking copies to nearly every talk I’ve done and have continued to have some podcast appearances and bookings for talks on the subject. Anthony will always be my favourite person to talk about, even if other topics have been more popular this year.
People are always asking me since how well the book’s been doing. I’ll be honest, I haven’t had much of an idea until the publishers recently updated me. I have sold around 400 copies since publication so far. I hope that people out there are enjoying it though. If you would like a copy, you can find it at all good book retailers, so please consider buying it, even if it’s from me at one of my talks.
On the first year anniversary of the book back in February, I visited the British Library’s Medieval Women exhibition. I decided to go on the anniversary as a book written by the first professional female author, Christine de Pizan, was on display. The copy on display was the one owned by Anthony himself. It was probably THE best museum exhibition I’ve ever seen and was so privileged to have seen it.
I delved into the world of trying to sell my book on a stall twice this year, once at a book fair and the other at a women’s event at my former workplace of Masson Mills. At both, I managed to sell a handful of copies, which was great considering I offered something very different to those around me. I was a bit disheartened that I didn’t do better, but both times I covered the cost of the stall and got a bit extra too, so could have been a lot worse. I did enjoy the interactions I had with people though, that was definitely fun, especially as I was dressed in Georgian costume in my old workplace.
I have also been the busiest so far this year for bookings for my history talks, with a total of 35 talks in 2025. I started doing public speaking in 2023 to share some of the fantastic stories I have uncovered, both through my personal research and some posts on here too. It always amazes me that people want to book me and enjoy the topics I have to share, even more so with the very varied time periods I cover.
So far, bookings are a little quieter, with 14 talks so far booked for 2026 (and 2 for 2027, yes some groups are super organised!). However, that is still a fantastic number of bookings already and some are now for further away from home and for new groups who haven’t booked me before either.
This year was the first full season of offering the Georgian Derby and Belper tours. Where I live in Derbyshire, is so full of history from the Georgian period, including things like the early factory system, the enlightenment period, and famous people like Joseph Wright and Erasmus Darwin. The tours combine all of this for both the tour routes in Derby and Belper.
I have had such positive feedback on them and it’s been lovely to have so many people on them, including 3 Derby tours under the umbrella of Derby Museums. These will continue in 2026 and I hope to see you on them. I will make a post when these are back up and running in the Spring. Although I am taking bookings for private tours for next year, which I have a couple of bookings for already, thanks to some groups I regularly go and speak at.
So many history themed things happened this year, so it’s hard to name them in one post. There was the usual Georgian filled September, with the now regular trips to Bath for the Jane Austen Festival and to Buxton for their Georgian Festival. However, there was a first for both of these. We finally did a Georgian Ball in Bath, which took place in the church that Austen’s parents were married in, and where her father is buried. It was nice to go and make new friends. In Buxton, we also had our first ceilidh as well, which was lots of fun! Buxton is already booked for next year too and it’s such a joy to be back there with friends too.
A joy and something that has got me through this year has been a visit to the Battle of Britain Museum in Kent back in May. I didn’t expect to enjoy myself and now have a newfound love of World War Two pilots because the museum told the story of so many pilots. I ended up doing my own research into some of the pilots we saw mentioned there. Including a man called Tony Page, who was shot down aged 21 and is buried in a cemetery near to the museum. After a visit to an RAF Museum at Cosford in the Summer, I got a Battle of Britain Teddy and named him Tony Bear after him.
Yet again, it has been the most successful year yet in terms of views since I started this blog seven years ago. For that reason, I just want to take the time to thank each and every person who has read, shared, liked, and followed the blog over that time. It genuinely means a lot to me to see people enjoy the blog and certainly wasn’t something I envisioned when I first started. I still enjoy writing posts on here, so I hope it will continue for years to come yet.
The best post I have written this year has been about my ancestor, Susan Hyde, who was a female Royalist spy under the reign of Oliver Cromwell. You can view that here.
It’s also been a privilege (and saviour at times) to welcome 2 guest bloggers this year. I thank them for offering content this year, it has really helped me out at times when I have been too busy to create regular content myself. It’s also wonderful to see so many of you enjoying them too.
The most popular guest post this year was written by my friend and former colleague at the Derbyshire Record Office, Neil Bettridge, on the connections between Charles Dickens and the explorer, John Franklin. You can view that here. If any of you would like to feature a post on here, then please do contact me, I am always open to featuring guest posts on here.
All that is left now is to wish you all a healthy and wonderful 2026. Most importantly, thank you all once again for your support over the last year. Each and every view, like and share means a lot to me, so I pass on my hearty thanks and love to all of you. The first post of the new year will be on Clara Grant, who gave out bundles of gifts to children living in poverty in the East End of London.
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