I don’t get too many invitations these days. So, when one pops onto the digital doormat it receives serious attention. The invitation in this instance was to the Chalke History Festival and it came from a nice bunch of folk collectively known as ‘Guidl’. Guidl is a new venture and was a sponsor of the festival. Thence ‘Chalke and Guidl’. I can sense some puzzled looks, therefore scroll on for some explanations.
What is the Chalke History Festival?
The clue really is in the name – although a good friend did ask whether the fact that I was about to attend a historic festival was some sort of paradox. Moving on, Chalke History Festival takes place over a week in late June, in a stunning little valley near the village of Broad Chalke, just to the south west of Salisbury, Wiltshire. Here, you will find an encamped mixture of talks, discussions, demonstrations and performances, with a dash of retail and a heavy dose of fun. It began in 2011, established by historian and author James Holland and James Heneage, author, festival entrepreneur and a founder of Ottakar’s bookshops (now subsumed into Waterstones).
Just in case it is not clear, the theme of the festival is history. People who like stories often enjoy history and when you join those stories up a picture of how we got here begins to emerge. Ergo, the festival has a noble aspiration – to promote an understanding of our past. Chalke History Festival certainly succeeds in attracting people that enjoy history – and a generally fun bunch they are, in my experience . I wondered what the collective noun for a hoard of historians was and, according to something called the National Endowment for the Humanities, it is ‘an argumentation’. Not believing that such a word exists – not in the UK, anyway – I found that History Today more simply and plausibly claims it is ‘an argument’. Even so, an argument of historians barely encapsulates what a historian does – which, in summary, is to evaluate information from both primary and secondary sources, organise it into a cohesive account and then serve it to an appreciative audience in a comprehensible way. In that regard, it occurs to me that a couple of my university history lecturers were not fully rounded historians. A historian has to be more than an academic. Anyway, if you can come up with a suitable noun, let me know. In any event, take it from me that more than a cluster/swarm/herd/school (or whatever) of historians attend Chalke History Festival. Some of them even looked almost like normal people.
Chalke History Festival places a strong emphasis on appealing to children. This is presumably in the desperate hope that they will grasp lessons that seem to elude so many adults, particularly politicians who themselves seem to be barely out of the playground. Anyway, there is plenty for little folk to do and see. A quick glance through the programme shows Viking crafts, story telling, learning how to sword fight and artillery firing. Essential skills, all, as I am sure you will agree. I also witnessed some excellent, and amusing, performances. There is a bar, too, especially to keep me and my sort happy. At the (possibly) more cerebral end (if celebrity is an indication of merit) speakers and debaters in 2024 included the likes of Antony Beevor, Tracy Borman, Peter Caddick-Adams, Jonathan Dimbleby, Frank Gardner, Sebastian Faulks, Max Hastings, Dan Snow, Nicola Tallis, Kate Vigurs and Michael Wood. Topics covered ranged from ancient times to the Cold War and the present day.
More than a decade since its launch, Chalke History Festival attracts around 25,000 attendees of all ages from all over the United Kingdom and beyond. In a sense, it reminded me of Glastonbury Festival, which was taking place at a similar time about 50 miles to the west. Was that Cold Play I could hear over the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle? Unlike Glastonbury, however, which with more than 200,000 people becomes the largest town in Somerset for a short period, it is less confusing, the clientele is generally better behaved, you don’t have to walk terribly far to find something to enjoy and the toilets are much, much nicer. Trust me on the toilets. Oh – and there is not as much music, but much more history; did I mention the history? Anyway, other than all of those things, it is quite similar. Music-wise, however, I must say that I had a very happy time sitting in the picnic tent, supping a very pleasant ale whilst grinning stupidly to the Dixie-style jazz music of the Branflakes – who were terrific.
Day tickets are available – and you can also stay longer and camp. The tents were just visible on the skyline. They looked like tank traps.
What is Guidl?
“A new digital platform for geo-located audio experiences, offering a unique and engaging way to interact with the world.”
In a nutshell, Guidl is a new audio guide app (software package). The idea is that you download the app onto your smartphone or tablet and use it to find interesting – mainly historical – places to see wherever you happen to be. A clever map finds where you are and identifies places nearby. So far, the good folk behind Guidl have been (I think) mainly trying to encourage established historians, website owners and tour guides to upload material. However, one of Guidl’s USPs is that the founders encourage anyone to do it, to become ‘a creator’. All you need is enthusiasm for and understanding of your subject, some knowledge of how to record and upload a file – and away you go, the next Lucy Worsley or David Olusoga! You can record direct onto Guidl, if you’re confident enough. It costs nothing to download the app or upload an audio tour, but if you want to listen to one you need to pay. The first part of a Guidl tour is free, to give you a taster of what’s to come. Currently, fees start at £4.99 and a small proportion of that goes to the creator – so it is a potential source of passive income. At time of writing, I think I’m right in saying that most, though by no means all, Guidls feature places in the UK. However, Guidl aims to be global. So if you want to yell about Yellowstone, give an eyeful of the Eifel, or bang on about Berlin – you can. The Guidl app can be downloaded now from Google Play for Android or the Apple App Store for IPhone.
Guidl is the brainchild of two youthful Oxford-based psychiatrists, Monty Lyman (a published author) and Joe Baskerville-Butler. The CEO is historian Rob Lyman and Julian Humphreys, battlefield historian and tour guide, is Relationships Manager. Rob approached me last year, apparently having read one of my books – which he claimed to have liked. I haven’t got round to testing him yet, but have now uploaded about half a dozen tours; sorry – Guidls!
Find out more by following this link to Guidl’s website.
To give you an idea of what to expect, below are screenshots of three Guidls I have published. The sharp-eyed will notice that prices are in Australian dollars – which proves that the app works on the other side of the world!
Chalke and Guidl
The entrance to the history festival was next to an enormous tented version of Waterstones bookshop. A promising start. The Guidl tent was directly ahead – they could not have secured a better position if they had tried. It was great to meet some of the team, including Rob and Monty – and Iona, who seems to do much of the work and keep everyone in order. They were all charming. Their flattering comments regarding A Bit About Britain’s content and enthusiasm for the Guidl project was wonderful.
So, if you want to listen to A Bit About Britain on Guidl – download the app. And think about creating your own Guidls. I know many who follow A Bit About Britain produce some really wonderful material, not only about their travels in the United Kingdom, but from all over the world. Go for it!
I also met Julian Humphreys, who hails from a rival city to my hometown, is deeply knowledgeable on his subject and very amusing company. Monty also introduced me to Zack White, another historian and an expert on the Napoleonic Wars. I would never have guessed from his uniform.
In fact, there were rather a lot of people dressing up in one way or another. I even had an entertaining conversation with a couple of French soldiers, who loved having their pictures taken, but confessed to becoming confused if anyone spoke to them in French. Dipping in and out of tents and talks, listening to people’s historical passions was both enjoyable and fascinating. You can get an idea of the diversity of exhibitors and activities from the photos, but at Chalke it’s quite possible to see, in any year, gladiators, knights in armour, or people from the pages of a Jane Austen novel.
Click on the photos to make them more biggerer. 😀
What I cannot show you, because my photos of it are so bad, was a wheeling, diving, looping, roaring Spitfire, which appeared in the early afternoon. It had been arranged merely for our entertainment, stayed overhead for many minutes and was breathtaking.
So, there you go – Chalke and Guidl. Take a look at Guidl now and make a note to visit Chalke Valley History Festival next year.
This sounds like an interesting festival. I’d not heard of it before.
Definitely worth a visit!
It looks great – I’ll definitely check Guidl out as well 🙂
I’m sure you’d enjoy the festival, Han. And definitely check out Guidl – tell ’em I suggested it!
This looks like so much fun! What a great festival to enjoy 🙂
Absolutely – we had a great day. Take a look at Guidl, Megs – your travels would translate well, I’m sure.
Hi Mike – what a great round up of Chalke festival and also the new app Guidl … just amazing what’s being thought about in this day and age. Sounds like a much better day than Glastonbury – dare I say?! Congratulations on your invitation via your magnificent site: A Bit About Britain … your posts are always very informative especially with that dash of humour. Cheers Hilary
You’re very kind, Hilary. As for Glastonbury, I went a few years back and enjoyed most of it – except the loos and the mud!
A very interesting post about what is a very interesting and obviously popular festival, it looks amazing and very colourful – thanks for sharing 🙂
It was great, Eunice. You should maybe check out Guidl and think about adding some of your travels to it.
It’s a nice idea Mike but when it comes to technology I’m very much a dinosaur. I don’t have or want a smartphone, my tablet doesn’t have enough memory for something like that and I don’t ‘do’ apps 🙂
Oh, I’m not great with ‘apps’ either! The material you write is great, though!
Thank you kind sir, compliments are always accepted, and your own material is always excellent 🙂
I would be delighted to visit the Chalke History Festival, paying particular attention to the talks, panels, performances, crafts, cooking and daily life, medicine, warfare and books. But if the festival is particularly targeted to appeal to young children amongst others, I would like the firearms to be at one end of the festival ground with a clear notice on the entry door – GUNS HERE.
I doubt they were using live ammo, Helen. But it was very clear where they were!
I think this is a wonderful event. I bet that Spitfire was THE best! You are right about the historians at universities, they need to be more open, well-rounded. Thank you for this post, Mike.
Thanks, Jennie. Oh, yes, the Spit was fab! I should probably add that most of the history bods at my university were good, some really excellent – a couple could not communicate.
That sounds a super event….and I’ll tell friends in France about Guidl…they were thinking of producing an ap guide to Touraine but the technology defeated them.
Thanks, Helen. Yes, do mention Guidl to your friends – and suggest they mention where they heard about it.
I’ve been meaning to go to Chalke for years, given that it’s relatively nearby. I must get myself sorted out for next year.
I’m sure you would enjoy it, April. You might enjoy Guidl too – but it does take time, and that means time away from writing.
Such an appealing event
Thanks, Derrrik! It is.
Lovely photos! I had the pleasure of chatting with a woman from the UK on the way home today in the airliner. She immigrated to the US 35 years ago!
Thanks, John. I overheard several American accents at the festival.
That’s good. The woman onto the aircraft said she finds Americans to be friendly. I hope so! In a sense, we are the same people.
I would enjoy that! Thanks for this very interesting post.
It was definitely fun, Lynette.
It seems to be an interesting festival for both kids and adults. I like your sentence about politicians and playgrounds, very true. Good to see that you have uploaded some of your content to Guidl.
Thanks, Tanja. I could see you adding some of your content to Guidl.
Wow what a place and such amazing photos to show it off, I would enjoy wandering around there if only I could
Thanks, Joanne! 🙂
What heartening gathering, Mike. Thanks for this v. enlightening post.
Thanks Tish. You could probably tell I enjoyed it!