I have a background in agriculture having grown up on, and worked on a family farm when I was young.

Architecturally the Heart of England has a lot to offer, including religious buildings from all periods, such as Saxon churches, Norman churches and abbeys, and ornate gothic cathedrals. Houses include modest medieval half-timber cottages, and many grand country houses of differing architectural styles.

The region has many castles, spanning the centuries of castle building. The castles are all different, there are simple motte and bailey castles on the Welsh borders in Herefordshire, there are impressive ruins such as Goodrich Castle and Kenilworth Castle as a result of the civil war. Some have survived the centuries, such as Warwick Castle, others are still family homes as is the case with Berkeley Castle which was the site of Edward II’s murder and Sudeley Castle where Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife is buried.

There are six cathedrals in the Heart of England region, they are Lichfield, Hereford, Worcester, Gloucester, Birmingham and Coventry. Village churches are one of England's great treasures, I enjoy exploring them, some contain magnificent memorials and stained glass windows. There are many churches of interest, particularly the ‘wool churches’ of the Cotswolds. In Simon Jenkins’* book, six of the seventeen 5 star churches are in the region, they are in Fairford, Cirencester, Tewkesbury, Burford, Ludlow and Warwick. Some are very old, the village of Deerhurst must be unique in having two Anglo-Saxon churches pre-dating the Norman Conquest of 1066.
*’England’s Thousand Best Churches’

What could be better than being ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’? I can guide panoramic coach tours in the Heart of England. A region which includes the beautiful Cotswolds, where there are delightful honey-coloured villages, the Wye valley, where early tourists ventured, inspired by William Gilpin in the late 18th century, and Forest of Dean. The west of the region bordering Wales is very rural with the pastoral rolling countryside of Herefordshire and Shropshire.

History has always been one of my great passions, I enjoy walking in the footsteps of history. just being in a building where a historical person has been. If only buildings could speak! A number of important battles have taken place in the region over the centuries, Evesham, Tewkesbury, Stow and Worcester to name a few. We are the products of history with some events changing history’s course. What if?

Sir Edward Elgar was born just outside Worcester and lived most of his life in Worcestershire, and neighbouring Herefordshire. Walking the Malvern Hills one can almost hear Elgar’s music. The cathedrals of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester, in turn, are the locations each summer for the Three Choirs Festival. The world’s oldest choral music festival.

The tombs of two medieval kings are in cathedrals in the Heart of England. Henry III’s coronation took place in Gloucester. Many other locations have royal connections, particularly during the English Civil War.

There are many fine country houses in the Heart of England, moated manor houses with priest holes such as Baddesley Clinton and Harvington Hall, there are Queen Anne-style houses like Hanbury Hall, and fine Georgian houses, an example being Attingham Park. Some are impressive shells like Witley Court, a victim of fire in the 1930s and allegedly visited one night in the 1960s by Bob Dylan when ‘ghost-hunting’. The region boasts houses of the ‘Arts and Crafts’ period, examples include Wightwick (pronounced Whittick) Manor, and on the Cotswolds, Rodmarton Manor which was built at the beginning of the 20th century.

Walking is the best way to explore. I lead guided walks of towns and cities, including Stratford-upon-Avon, Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Cheltenham, Malvern, Birmingham to name a few. Even smaller towns can rich histories and are worth exploring, such places include Evesham, Ludlow, Malvern, Tewkesbury (2021 is the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Tewkesbury), and Upton-upon-Severn. Often hidden away down an alley or round a corner is something of interest.

Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace of William Shakespeare. I can show you the places Shakespeare will have known. Places such as his birthplace, Anne Hathaway's Cottage, New Place, his schoolroom and Holy Trinity Church where we will find his grave.