Norwich: A Black History - new guided tour

 I have developed a new guided walking tour to mark Norfolk Black History Month in October 2020. Norwich: A Black History celebrates the diverse contribution of black people to the history of Norwich and Norfolk.

From street traders in the 18th and 19th centuries and Pablo Fanque, the UK's first black circus impresario, immortalised in John Lennon's song 'Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite',  to the American servicemen who brough rhythm and blues to the city and Lucas, the 1960s US airman, who settled in Norfolk and gave soul to the Orford Cellar, there is much to celebrate.

                                                                         Lucas

The tour also looks at slavery - those involved in the slave trade and abolitionists in Norfolk like Thomas Fowell Buxton, Amelia Opie and Harriet Martineau. I also explore the work of 19th century Norfolk boxing hero, Jem Mace with black boxers and the great contributions of soldier, historian, archaeologist and philanthropist, Frederick Duleep Singh and his sister Sophia who was a leading suffragette.

All tours start outside The Forum, Millennium Plain, Norwich NR2 1BH at 10.30am and also approximately 90 minutes. Tickets are £7 and can booked via Eventbrite here.

Tours are on Saturday 10 October, Friday 16 October, Sunday 25 October and Saturday 31 October.

My Word! The stories behind our favourite words - author, Peter Sargent

 

When was it good to be a bully? Who was the clown that almost wrecked Cleopatra's suicide scene in William Shakespeare's play? What have singing goats got to do with tragedy? And what connects goats, hedgehogs and supermodels with the word capricious? Were Cossack cavalrymen the first to eat in a bistro, and were twittering birds the first to use jargon? Above all, what on earth can King Henry VIII and Paddington Bear have in common?

The answers to these questions can be found in My Word!. Author, Peter Sargent, writer of historical books on East Anglia and former journalist, has long been intrigued and frequently bamboozled by the language we use in everyday speech.

In this book, he looks at nearly 100 common words that we bandy about with bandon, rarely thinking about where they came from , and how their use has changed and is continuing to change. It's an entertaining and an informative safari through the jungle of our evolving language.

Peter Sargent

Peter Sargent is a recovering ex- journalist, turned historian and author. His interest in the world of words was sparked when he studied History and English Literature at trhe University of East Anglia, Norwich in the 1980s.

After working in March, Peterborough and Cambridge, via spells in Malta and Hong Kong, he later returned to Norfolk towards the end of the 1990s to work as a journalist on newspapers and magazines. From 2004-11, he wrote weekly articles on local history, which appeared in the Eastern Daily Press newspaper, and was production editor on Let's Talkj magazione for six years, before becoming a full-time writer in 2016.

Originally from Spalding in the Lincolnshire Fens, he lives in Norwich. This is his fourth published book, following A Moment in Time (2017), A Place in History (2018) and Anglian Annals (2019).

My Word!, price £10, is published by Paul Dickson Books on Thursday 1 October 2020. Order your copy here.