Hi, thanks for stopping by. I'm Matthew Hathaway, self proclaimed history nerd and passionate about the town I grew up in and am still proud to call home (even though rent prices have forced me out into the nearby countryside). I'm a member of Bicester Local History Society and have been serving on their committee since 2013. Before that I co-wrote a history of St Edburg's Church.
In fact it was that wonderful old building that first sparked my interest in local history, and I've been hooked on it ever since. From the buildings and place names to the people and events, there's nothing about the history and heritage of this area that I don't enjoy learning and sharing.
Some of you may know my writings from the regular articles I contribute to the Bicester Advertiser or the monthly newsletter I produce for Bicester Local History Society. You may even have come across my first book, Bicester Reflections, which was published back in March. If so then you'll be familiar with some of the parts of local history that I really like to write about.
But those publications don't always allow me to cover the things I'd like to, either because I can't fit it all into the space I'm allocated, or I don't have any pictures to go with it, or even just the fact that the subject falls outside the area of interest. And so the idea of this blog came about.
On here I aim to publish the stories too big for the newspaper articles to do them justice, the little nuggets of information too small to fit anywhere else, and anything historical that catches my interest from further afield. I'll be posting as often as I can, but aiming for at least twice a week. If you don't want to keep checking back to see whats new though then you are welcome to subscribe to the free newsletter, which will be emailed out every fortnight giving a summary of the articles posted over those two weeks so that you can pick any that take your fancy.
If you've got any questions, comments, or just want to get in touch, then you can email me at: matthew@bicesterhistorynerd.uk