About the Author
I started work at the BBC as a graduate news trainee 50 years ago. The book tells of my progress through what was then a male-dominated organisation becoming a current affairs producer and news editor. I went on from the BBC to become a commissioning editor at Channel 4. The media world has changed out of all recognition in the past half century.
See my Gallery of photos from my time at the BBC
I was born in Leicester, in the English Midlands, in the 1950s, I now live in Cambridge.
My first book published in 2021 Secrets Never To Be Told is in part a childhood memoir and in part the remarkable true story of how I came to learn about a secret branch of my family in the far west of Canada.
Secrets Never To Be Told is an extraordinary true story, which took me from Victorian Cambridge via 1960s’ Leicester to 21st century Vancouver.
Join me on my personal journey of discovery, unravelling a century and a half of family secrets.
NOW AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIOBOOK.
I talked about some of the issues raised by the book on BBC Woman’s Hour. You can listen to it here at 36:54
In the photo gallery here [link] you will find more photographs of by years at the BBC. To view some of the photos I received from Canada and Cambridge dating back 100 years and relating to my previous book please click here.
View the Cambridge photo gallery here.
Video above courtesy of Mill Road History Society.
Return to Vancouver – read about my second journey and a promise fulfilled here
The further story of the Underwoods– a Scottish Canadian family.
My Latest News
I am excited to report that I will be giving a lunchtime talk on June 12th 2025 at the Museum of Cambridge. See details under Events below.
Events
Forthcoming talks :
NEW EVENTS FOR 2026 will be listed below once finalised
From 2022 I have given many talks to a wide variety of groups across the country both face to face, via Zoom or both.
Talks are tailored to the audience – and are suitable for people who have read or not read the book. I go much further than the events recorded in my book to provide tips for anyone interested in researching their own family history. I have also developed a presentation in response to questions I have had from audience members about the process of transforming their research into a compelling narrative- maybe even a book.
Contact Me: at chestand1@icloud.com if you would like me to talk to your community, book, local or family history group.