A tour inside a 1533 Chancel that’s lost its Nave; Why the Lord Chancellor sits atop a Bale of Wool; and we hear Swallows, Warblers and Long-Tailed Tits

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Good afternoon and welcome to today’s episode where we visit on foot a tiny chancel that once had a nave; built in the Tudor times just before the Reformation with a still visible coat of arms of Henry VIII above the East Window.  I find a dusty old love poem of sorts, an ancient kneeler, and delight in the swooping swallows that gather about me.

Are you well?  Are you content?  Do rest in the safety and peace of my podcast which has now had nearly 20,000 downloads which is amazing.  I don’t suppose I can continue forever, but I certainly will until 17th February next year, the anniversary of my mother’s death.  

Thank you for your support and companionship.  Do let me know if you have any ideas for the podcast: who to interview; places to go; poems to read; dedications to make.  I’m just trying to create a warm and gentle place for the curious-minded, who want soothing companionship that involves learning new things and exploring new places.  

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Gretel le Maître likes to look for the beauty and curiosities in life, one day at a time.  She shares with you snippets from books about history, art and literature and regularly takes you on adventures to new locations, to explore churches, cathedrals and architecture.  

Gretel invites you to accompany her as she navigates the world a day at a time;  the podcast is unscripted, it’s ad-free.

Gretel loves the world and history, architecture, literature and people. And so is determined to walk this path with light footsteps and with humour and warmth.  Let’s gather up the beautiful things and ponder them in our hearts.

Top 10 in Global Rankings according to Listen Notes.  I would be so grateful if you would spare the time to give me a kind review and possibly 5 stars (for effort as I realise it’s not deserved for achievement)🥴

Previous guests include  historian Tom Holland; Actor Enzo Cilenti; Art historian Philip Mould; Writer David Willem; Composer Matthew Coleridge; Vicar Angela Tilby; Author Bijan Omrani; Journalist and Historian Sir Simon Jenkins; Dorset garden hedgehog family, the Venerable Bede and other guests.  

Future guests (all being well) are Tom Holland, John Simpson, Eleanor Parker, Philippa Langley and Katie Channon.  

Unpolished and unscripted but no ads and no requests for anything but your company.  Trying to make the world a gentler place with literature, history and nature.  Please don’t expect to find a...