Dear Listener,

Sorry its taken me so long to write an update. Its hard to believe that 8 months have flown past since we last uploaded a podcast here. Now for the excuse......Illness and a major house move got in the way of podcasts. But look out for new podcasts soon. 

NEWSFLASH

As the house move has brought us to Scotland we're also planning a new series of podcasts using the same format as This is England but from and about Scotland.

To recover from the stress of moving, I've spent some time this Summer out exploring with a camera taking photographs of the area around our new home here in the Scottish borders. If you'd like to see the results, you can find them on the web at www.flickr.com/photos/radiochris (click the images to see larger versions). Let me know what you think by leaving a comment either here on on the flickr page.

Chris

One from the archives, if you remember sweets like liquorice torpedoes, sherbet lemons and mint humbugs and thought they where a thing of the past. You'd be wrong, Goodies Sweetshop owned by Neil Perkins is perhaps the only shop where you can buy them.

This is England Podcast 13 The Field Archers Harry & Terri Boyce are both enthusiasts about Field Archery. Join them as they discuss their passion for a sport, which has led Terri to a world title and Harry to design courses for the upcoming European Field Archery Championships. Our host Liz Fawden then gets a lesson in how to shoot a bow and arrow.

Neil Mumby - The Falconer In one of the most hair raising moments of the series, Liz is narrowly missed by the outstretched talons of a hawk as it comes into land over her head. Hear these wonderful birds as Neil Mumby the falconer flies them for their daily exercise and they soar and swoop overhead. Then join Liz and Neil as they visit the breeding rooms where captive birds are able to provide new youngsters to keep the species alive.

Robert Rae Punch & Judy Man (Traditional English Seaside Puppet Shows) 40 years a magician and member of the Magic Circle, Robert is has been a Punch and Judy Man based in Lincolnshire, England for the past 25 years.

Join Liz as she travels to Kirton Bakery and meets Mervin Austin who bakes his own bread in an oven that took two weeks to reach its operating temperature, and where every loaf is hand made from specialist flours ground in the adjoining windmill. Here its still possible to have bread made from Spelt - the grain the Romans ate and that dates back to prehistory.

Liz meets Ian Keat a bespoke jeweller and one of the few remaining craftsmen who designs and makes original items. Liz visits Ian's his workshop on Steep Hill in Lincoln's old quarter and sees how the bench and tools of a Jeweller evolved over the centuries and have changed very little in modern times.

You could be forgiven for thinking that an English Court was run by a bewigged judge from his chambers, or maybe his office clerks but you would be wrong. Brian Hall OBE is a Court Usher - the man who shouts,"All Rise!" or "Be upstanding in Court!". He takes us behind the scenes to hear about the rest of his job and his responsibility for making sure the system works smoothly.

As a young boy Alan Pell was fascinated by the steam fairground organs that accompanied the travelling showmen and their fairgrounds everywhere. With no books but only other old organs from which to learn how to make them, he set about building an organ of his own, and another and another.... so that today the whole family is involved in making these superb musical instruments.

Bette Vickers - The Obituary Writer Bette Vickers must be one of the few people to have written her own obituary. As the obit writer for the Lincolnshire Echo newspaper, she has turned a job considered by her fellow journalists as the pits into a calling. Join host Liz Fawden as Bette discusses a career, which has as many lighter moments as sad ones.