Every Family has a story to tell……….Welcome to mine
Discover the Dark Tales of the Past in My Brand-New Series: “Stories From the Grave” Sometimes history grows in unexpected ways, like roots pushing through stone, or a story taking on a life far larger than the truth behind it. Few places in London better capture this gentle entanglement of fact and legend than the Hardy … Continue reading The Hardy Tree – A Tree That Remembered the Dead
Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series: "Stories From The Grave." Tucked away in the peaceful churchyard of St John the Baptist Church in Pinner, Greater London, stands one of the most curious monuments you’re likely to encounter, a tomb with what appears to be a coffin floating above the ground. Its unusual design has … Continue reading The Truth Behind Pinner’s Floating Coffin
During a visit to the Western Front in the summer of 2025, I was told a story that has stayed with me ever since. It was not a story of sweeping offensives or celebrated generals, nor one that fits comfortably into the familiar narratives of the First World War. Instead, it was a small, human … Continue reading Beaumont-Hamel: A Fragment Returned
Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series: "Stories From The Grave." In 1705, an Irish woman named Margorie McCall (sometimes recorded as McCat or McCool) was believed to have died suddenly from a fever and was hastily buried in Lurgan, County Armagh, a common practice at a time when contagious illness was feared, and medical … Continue reading Lived Once, Buried Twice
The land is silent now, peace prevails where once there was chaos. There was a time when the earth here was ripped apart by bombs and tanks, when men were torn apart by machine guns, shrapnel, bayonets and barbed wire. Today, crops and trees grow once more on soil that was once barren, a landscape … Continue reading Walking the Great War: My Journey to the Western Front
Private William Richards Crump was born in Birmingham in 1893, the youngest of two boys born to Minnie Crump. His baptism, alongside that of his older brother Francis, took place on 11 August 1894 at St James Church, Wandsworth. The brothers shared the unusual middle name Richards, which was almost certainly a quiet clue to the identity of their biological … Continue reading Before the Guns Fell Silent: The Final Days of Private Crump
In the summer of 2025, I travelled to the battlefields of the Western Front to pay tribute to three members of my extended family who gave their lives in the First World War. The experience was both moving and deeply humbling, walking among the countless white headstones, each one marking a life ended too soon … Continue reading In the Shadow of the Great War: Remembering William George Curtin
From the Banks of the Thames to the Mud of Passchendaele: The Life and Loss of Harry Joseph Keyes Before the mud, the gunfire, and the chaos of the Western Front, before the thunder of artillery at Ypres silenced his young life, Harry Joseph Keyes was a boy growing up in the heart of working-class … Continue reading In the Shadow of Passchendaele: Remembering Private Keyes
The Oak Tree Remembers: A Chiddicks Family Story Through the Eyes of the Village Oak Tree I have been standing here longer. than you can remember. My roots run deeper than the graves in the churchyard, and my limbs have reached higher with every passing century. I am the old oak on the village green, … Continue reading The Tree On The Green
The people of London lay blissfully asleep in their beds, completely unaware of the chaos and devastation that was about to unfold in the early hours of the morning. On a cold and rainy January morning in 1928, disaster struck the city when the River Thames flooded with devastating effect, claiming the lives of fourteen … Continue reading The Great London Flood of 1928
The Chiddicks Family Tree 