Specialist Subjects
London's ghosts and legends:
'By means of our myths and legends we maintain a sense of what we are worth and who we are.'
('Mother London' by Michael Moorcock)
My 2007 book, 'Haunted London', looked at ghost stories from
some of London's most famous places, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, No. 10 Downing Street,
St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London. It focused on Central London - the London trodden by tourists -
but beyond this centre lies the suburban sprawl of Greater London and this vast landscape of churches and shops,
car parks and parkland, council estates and unassuming rows of terraced houses conceals more and stranger tales than
anyone would ever suspect. I have written
about some of these odd local stories in 'Strange Mitcham' (2002, revised 2011),
'Mysterious Mitcham' (2007) and
'Haunted Wandsworth' (2006) and am currently working on further similar
collections.
People often ask me if I believe in ghosts and suchlike. Well, I don't know whether or not ghosts (in the
traditional sense of supernatural beings) exist but ghost stories most definitely do! As well as chilling
the blood, these stories can offer intriguing insights into local history, while their numerous phantoms, wraiths
and spectres populate a secret London that is enormously great fun to explore.
Parapsychology / the paranormal / forteana / 'weird stuff':
This area has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. My interest eventually led me to join ASSAP (the
Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena) and in 2001, I was elected onto their governing
committee. After a three-year spell overseeing their Research Department, I served for two years as the
association's Librarian and Archivist, looking after their large collection of books, journals, case reports, etc.
stored in Senate House, University of London until the collection was relocated to a site in Nottingham. Although I
am not actively involved with the association at the moment I remain a keen member of ASSAP and also belong to
several other groups.
My published writing includes a number of magazine articles about various 'paranormal' topics, as well as several
books about odd local stories and legends (see above). I also write a weekly paranormal column for online magazine
'The Morton Report'.
As for my position on the spectrum of cynics versus believers, I like to quote Jacob Needleman's comment that you
'should be open-minded but not so open-minded that your brains fall out'!
Psychology:
I hold a BSc (Hons), First Class in Psychology. It was my lifelong interest in strange stories (see above) that
led me to study this subject at university to gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which we experience and
interpret the world around us.
Genetic genealogy:
From its beginnings in early 2002 I worked closely with GeoGene. This remarkable company used cutting-edge
genetic technology to explore the journeys made by our prehistoric ancestors as they left their African motherland
and gradually populated the planet. As well as helping to design and write the reports given to customers to explain the
results of their DNA analyses, I wrote and proofread website and promotional copy and was responsible for the company's
newsletter. Sadly, increasing competition from other companies moving into this new market, in combination with the
economic hardships of the 'credit crunch', forced GeoGene to close in January 2009.