Firebacks
This is my main subject of research. Since the publication of my book, British Cast-iron Firebacks, in 2010 I have been engaged in a British Fireback Survey with the aim of compiling a catalogue of British firebacks, which I intend to place in a national library in due course. My son Tom has constructed a website for me which comprises an introduction to British firebacks, a bibliography, an on-going series of ‘Notes’ about fireback topics and a searchable database of all the firebacks I have recorded, which number in excess of 1000. CLICK HERE to access my Firebacks website.
The Wealden Iron Industry
I became interested in this in the mid 1970s when the late Reg Houghton and I began to explore the site of the Warren Furnace, near Crawley Down in Sussex. From that I joined the Wealden Iron Research Group (WIRG), of which I have been Treasurer, Chairman (for 24 years), Vice-Chairman, President and currently Editor. I am now also an Honorary Vice-President. In the 1990s I gained the degree of MA from the University of Brighton, the subject of my dissertation being the the Wealden iron industry during the Seven Years’ War. In 2008 my book, The Wealden Iron Industry, was published and is still in print.
Some articles that I have written on firebacks and on the Wealden iron industry are available on Academia.com. To access them CLICK HERE
Genealogy
I caught the family history bug when I was a teenager and, with my father, started by searching the parish registers at Littleover, in Derbyshire, where our family came from. In those days they were held in the church vestry. Since then I have researched as many branches of my family as I can (see Background and Blogs) and, using a family tree software application called Kith and Kin and the assistance of my son Tom, generated a website of over 7000 names which traces the forebears of me and my extended family back to William the Conqueror. CLICK HERE to access my FamilyTree website.
Crawley Down
I taught at Crawley Down School, in Sussex, for 33 years and lived in the village for 19 years. During that time I investigated aspects of the village’s past and wrote short articles for the newsletter of the Crawley Down Residents’ Association. I have never written a history of the village (although some people seem to be under the impression I have), but I have started contributing short notes on various bits of the village’s history to the village website. CLICK HERE to access my Crawley Down website.