Durham II: An Hour with writer David Willem; and Barnaby Rudge Chapter X

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Today I had the most delightful of days as I met with writer David Willem, author of ‘Cuthbert’s Corpse’ and we merrily chatted about the book, about Durham Cathedral, Cuthbert, Bede and other matters.  It was a huge honour for me and I was so grateful to him for the time he gave me and for the charm and energy he put into his conversation.  The Cathedral staff were wonderful too, and it has been the high point of this short year so far.  

I read another chapter of exquisite Barnaby Rudge to keep our momentum, and look forward to a general catching up with our readings tomorrow.

Thank you for joining me and I hope you’re encouraged to buy your own copy of David’s book.  It’s a fascinating read.  In tomorrow’s episode he reads an excerpt from it: book in one hand and pint in the other! 🥳 (And apologies David for the final line where I obviously muddle you up with the landlord of The Maypole. Easily done 🤷‍♀️)

Night night 🙋‍♀️

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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...