Handy HistoryExploring the past

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Introducing us & our mission

Welcome to Handy History, where we combine your passion for all things old and dusty with the Cumbrian and Northumbrian landscape! We’re here with our combined historical and linguistic expertise of forty years to help you experience these fantastic locations and connect with their long-forgotten stories.

Our goal is to provide you with a mind blowing experience that you’ll never forget, and that will leave you both entertained, educated and enthralled.  

Introducing us & our mission

Welcome to Handy History, where we combine your passion for all things old and dusty with the Cumbrian and Northumbrian landscape! We’re here with our combined historical and linguistic expertise of forty years to help you experience these fantastic locations and connect with their long-forgotten stories.

Our goal is to provide you with a mind blowing experience that you’ll never forget, and that will leave you both entertained, educated and enthralled.  

What our Handy Historians have to say

The next stop was to visit the oldest surviving written records found in Britain, at Vindolanda. Catherine, our guide, was kind to the girls and knowledgeable. It is an impressive site and L, very keen on being an archaeologist at the moment, is dreaming of Pompeii after this experience.
Darcy Moore, Australia
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If you want to learn about something as old as Hadrian's Wall but in a new, fresh and accessible way, then Catherine is the one to open that door to the past for you. Her enthusiasm and knowledge for all things Roman is well known but when you marry that knowledge to her professional guiding skills, then you can be assured of a really good, informative and entertaining tour.
Jan Williams, Institute of Tourist Guiding Trainer
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Catherine is a most able and accomplished person, having a gift for languages and a knowledge of Latin and Roman civilisation. She has to me always been careful and patient, qualities which I feel will be important in working with children and adults.
Marjorie Henry
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We were delighted by the careful planning Catherine put into each tour which included multiple sections of the wall, curated museum visits, towns along the wall and perfectly planned snack and lunch breaks. Catherine is a wonderful story-teller and has a teacher’s gift of making history and historical sites come alive.
Maggie and Ed Clarke, USA
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I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for organizing a talk and tour for Celeste, myself, and our group of students from Texas State University about Vindolanda and Hadrian's Wall. It truly was amazing and it was the highlight of several students' trip, even after seeing London! It opened up the world for the students in ways that reading and textbooks cannot. We felt so welcomed.
Lori Stiritz, Celeste Domsch and the Texas State Uni
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If possible, book Catherine to guide you along the wall as we learnt so much whilst other walkers filed passed us missing the most interesting of features.
Ian Farrar, Newcastle, UK
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Handy History Tours

Romans & Beyond

Ranging from the Romans to Anglo-Scottish wars, Sir Walter Scott, the Jacobites and beyond, satisfy your appetite for history with our immersive experiences

Local Folklore

Learn about the local stories, songs & ballads, myths, legends and gruesome murder stories that permeate the Northumbrian & Cumbrian landscape

Present Day

Expand your understanding of the local industry; and hear about how the lives & landscape of those living in the area were impacted with modern developments

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