11th December, 2024, Steyning Bookshop
Saturday 22nd June, 3pm, The Gluck Studio. Talk with slideshow. Free tea & cake!
Join anthropologist, TV presenter and writer Mary-Ann Ochota on a journey through Britain’s historic landscape.
Mary-Ann’s brilliant and essential book Hidden Histories; a Spotter’s Guide to the British Landscape is a real favourite at The Steyning Bookshop, and now we are lucky enough to have Mary-Ann in person to bring it all to life, with a fantastic talk and slideshow on Saturday, and a guided walk on Sunday!
What clues will tell you the origins of a village, or the age of a hedgerow? Why was this avenue of trees planted? How to tell a barrow from a mound? What, exactly is a tumulus and how can I spot one? Join Mary-Ann to find out all this, and more, as she shares the secrets of our countryside and helps us to identify the human activities that have shaped our green and pleasant land.
“This book is perfect for anyone who’s travelled through the countryside, scratched their head, and thought, ‘what on earth is that thing?’”
Tony Robinson
Mary-Ann Ochota’s TV presenting credits include Mystic Britain, Britain Afloat: Boats that made Britain (BBC2), Raised Wild/Feral Children (Discovery Networks), Britain’s Secret Treasures, Britain’s Secret Homes (ITV1), and Time Team (Channel 4). She is a presenter for BBC radio’s anthropology series, The Why Factor and a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent. Mary-Ann gained her MA in Anthropology from Emmanuel College, Cambridge and is a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.
Tickets for Mary-Ann’s talk are £6, to include tea & home-made cake, and her book ‘Hidden Histories’ will be on sale at the Gluck Studio event.
For the more active, Mary is also leading a guided walk on Sunday, and we have a double deal with tickets for talk AND walk being only £15. (£3 saving)