A Little Brit History: About Me – Andy Walsh

Editor’s Note: Andy Walsh, who runs the cracking Tudor History blog Tudor Stuff, has graciously decided to write a monthly column for Anglotopia about British History. I’ll get out of the way and let Andy introduce himself.

Hi! My name is Andy Walsh and I am the author of the Tudorstuff blog, which as the name suggests is about all things Tudor.  As I have also agreed to do a monthly post on Anglotopia I ought to start by saying a bit about myself.

I live with my wife and kids in Olton, Solihull which is in the English Midlands (in fact we are only a few miles from Meriden which is said to be the exact geographical centre of England).

My day job is at Birmingham City University where I teach mental health nurses.  I am also a part time guide at Harvington Hall in Worcestershire which is a Tudor Hall famous for it’s ‘Priest holes’.

Although I am going to write about English history I should say that I am not a professional historian. I have always felt curious about the past – intrigued by the ways that history has shaped our language, our place and plant names, our customs and landscape.

As a chld I wondered about what lay under the humps and bumps in the fields near where I grew up (Cistercian monastery – demolished in the time of Henry VIII). Around here it is easy to dig up bits of china pottery or Victorian clay tobacco pipes but once I remember two schoolmates turning up in the playground carrying a real sword dug from a ditch.

In the Midlands we are close to Stratford, Warwick and Worcester, the battlefields of  Bosworth and Edgehill are close by. If whilst driving to any of these places you find yourself on a particularly straight country road then often you find it was put there by the Romans. Matthew Boulton built the first factory at the Soho works in nearby Birmingham and arguably, it was us Midlanders who started the Industrial Revolution here!

I listened to my Uncle tell tales about how he survived Dunkirk, my mothers memories of sheltering from the Blitz or our local librarian who met the Beatles – I always wanted to know more. My favourite books were about Robin Hood, William the Conquerer, Richard the Lionheart and Robert the Bruce – it was never all just stories though.

Coming from an Anglo-Irish family was another reason to be aware of the past. As you know, England has had a ‘complex’  relationship with its neighbours across the Irish sea – at times I have felt a bit torn by it all. It certainly helped to make me aware of how we are still influenced by our history.

So, if you want academic and impartial history then don’t look here – I can’t do that. I hope to say a bit about our history from the perspective of someone who is still trying to understand it himself. Given that a lot of you in the US also have your roots here I am aware that this is your history as well. I would really love to hear about what you are interested in and perhaps in weeks to come we can get to know each other a little better.